Abstract

Raphael is one of the most cited painters in Nietzsche’ work. In The Birth of Tragedy, Nietzsche develops a theory of Apollonian art, in which Raphael plays an important role. I aim to show where Nietzsche places Raphael in his artist’s metaphysics, focusing on a source little studied, in this context, in the literature on Nietzsche: Schopenhauer’s essay on spirit seeing. So, this article intends to deepen the understanding of Apollonian art by means of a little explored source (Schopenhauer’s essay) and a subject little researched (the visual arts in Nietzsche’s work). I sustain the hypothesis that Schopenhauer’s essay clarifies the relationship between Nietzsche e Raphael, as well as enriches his artist’s metaphysics.