Maria Joseph Franz Anton Raphael Ritz, nicknamed Alpen-Raphael or Walliser-Raphael (17 January 1829, in

Brig A brig is a type of sailing vessel defined by its rig: two masts which are both square rig, square-rigged. Brigs originated in the second half of the 18th century and were a common type of smaller merchant vessel or warship from then until the ...

Canton of Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the 26 cantons forming the Sw ...

– 11 April 1894, in

Sion Sion may refer to * an alternative transliteration of Zion People * Sion (name) or Siôn, a Welsh and other given name and surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Shion or Sion, a Japanese given name Plac ...

) was a Swiss

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

and landscape painter, associated with the

Düsseldorf School Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

Biography

He was the second of four children born to , a church and portrait painter, and his wife Josefa-Klara. In 1839, they moved from Brig to Sion and his mother died in 1842. He received his first drawing lessons from his father. From 1851 to 1853, he studied with his uncle, Heinrich Kaiser, who was also a church and portrait painter. His father was displeased with his interest in landscape painting and, as he had also expressed an interest in science during his secondary education, it was suggested that he pursue that course, rather than art. However, he came in contact with the Nazarene painters Paul von Deschwanden and Theodor von Deschwanden (1826–1861) and, on the basis of their advice, enrolled at the

Kunstakademie Düsseldorf The Kunstakademie Düsseldorf is the academy of fine arts of the state of North Rhine Westphalia at the city of Düsseldorf, Germany. Notable artists who studied or taught at the academy include Joseph Beuys, Gerhard Richter, Magdalena Jetelová, ...

. He was there from 1853 to 1856. His instructors included Heinrich Mücke,

Karl Ferdinand Sohn Karl Ferdinand Sohn (10 December 1805 in Berlin – 25 November 1867 in Cologne) was a German painter of the Düsseldorf school of painting. Biography He was born in Berlin and started his studies at the age of eighteen under Wilhelm von Schad ...

Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow Friedrich Wilhelm von Schadow (7 September 1789 – 19 March 1862) was a German Romantic painter. Biography He was born in Berlin, the second son of the sculptor Johann Gottfried Schadow, who gave him his first lessons in drawing. He then turne ...

and

Theodor Hildebrandt Theodor Hildebrandt (2 July 1804, Stettin29 September 1874, Düsseldorf) was a German artist of the Düsseldorf school of painting who specialized in literary and historical subjects. He was also a noted entomologist. Biography He was a disci ...

. After 1860, he worked in the studios of Rudolf Jordan, who introduced him to

painting with folk life motifs. In 1862, he had his first major success when one of his works was purchased by Kaiser

Wilhelm I William I or Wilhelm I (german: Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 2 January 1861 and German Emperor from 18 January 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the f ...

at an exhibition in Brussels. This enabled him to open his own studio in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. He was only there for a year, however, when his father's worsening health forced him to return home and assist with the creation of several

altarpiece An altarpiece is an artwork such as a painting, sculpture or relief representing a religious subject made for placing at the back of or behind the altar of a Christian church. Though most commonly used for a single work of art such as a painting o ...

s. After returning to Düsseldorf, he fell ill himself and decided to go back to Sion permanently. In the following years, he not only painted, but also wrote numerous works on biology, geology, archaeology and folklore. Many of these writings were published in the yearbooks of the

Schweizer Alpen-Club The Swiss Alpine Club (german: Schweizer Alpen-Club, french: Club Alpin Suisse, it, Club Alpino Svizzero, rm, Club Alpin Svizzer) is the largest mountaineering club in Switzerland. It was founded in 1863 in Olten and it is now composed of 111 s ...

, of which he was a member.Florian Hitz: ''Die Erstbesteigung des Piz Bernina. Geschichte, Vollzug und Verarbeitung einer alpinistischen Glanztat''. In: Michael Kasper, Martin Korenjak, Robert Rollinger, Andreas Rudigier (Ed.): ''Alltag – Albtraum – Abenteuer. Gebirgsüberschreitung und Gipfelsturm in der Geschichte''. Böhlau Verlag, Wien/Köln/Weimar 2015, , Pg.238
''Google Books''
In 1874, he stayed at a spa in Albisbrunn where he met and married Caroline Nördlinger, the daughter of an engineer from

Tübingen Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thr ...

. They had five children, including the mathematician and physicist,

Walther Ritz Walther Heinrich Wilhelm Ritz (22 February 1878 – 7 July 1909) was a Swiss theoretical physicist. He is most famous for his work with Johannes Rydberg on the Rydberg–Ritz combination principle. Ritz is also known for the variational method na ...

. He was later involved in the creation of the

Swiss National Museum The Swiss National Museum (german: Landesmuseum)—part of the ''Musée Suisse Group'', itself affiliated with the Federal Office of Culture, is located in the city of Zurich, Switzerland's largest city, next to the Hauptbahnhof. The museum bui ...

and was a member of several groups devoted to historical preservation. An unspecified illness began to afflict him in 1889 and it led to his death in 1894.

References

External links

Biography and works
@ SikART
Biography
@ the

Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz The ''Historical Dictionary of Switzerland'' is an encyclopedia on the history of Switzerland that aims to take into account the results of modern historical research in a manner accessible to a broader audience. The encyclopedia is publish ...

''Ritz, Raphael''.
In: Friedrich von Boetticher: ''Malerwerke des neunzehnten Jahrhunderts. Beitrag zur Kunstgeschichte''. Vol. II, Dresden 1898, pg.444
More works by Ritz
@ ArtNet {{DEFAULTSORT:Ritz, Raphael 1829 births 1894 deaths Swiss painters Swiss landscape painters Genre painters 19th-century Swiss artists Düsseldorf school of painting

Biography

References

Further reading

External links