Raphael Ritz

Maria Joseph Franz Anton Raphael Ritz, nicknamed Alpen-Raphael or Walliser-Raphael (17 January 1829, in Brig, Canton of Valais – 11 April 1894, in Sion) was a Swiss genre and landscape painter, associated with the Düsseldorf School.

He was the second of four children born to Lorenz Justin Ritz [de], a church and portrait painter, and his wife Josefa-Klara.

His instructors included Heinrich Mücke, Karl Ferdinand Sohn, Friedrich Wilhelm Schadow and Theodor Hildebrandt.

After 1860, he worked in the studios of Rudolf Jordan, who introduced him to genre painting with folk life motifs.

He was later involved in the creation of the Swiss National Museum and was a member of several groups devoted to historical preservation.