xdg-open is a desktop-independent tool for configuring the default applications of a user. Many applications invoke the xdg-open command internally. Inside a desktop environment (like GNOME, KDE, or Xfce), xdg-open simply passes the arguments to those desktop environment's file-opener application (eg. gvfs-open, kde-open, or exo-open). which means that the associations are left up to the desktop environment. When no desktop environment is detected (for example when one runs a standalone window manager like eg. Openbox), xdg-open will use its own configuration files.
from archwiki
específico para sua pergunta, você poderia tentar isso para definir o aplicativo padrão associado ao arquivo png:
xdg-mime default <ristretto.desktop> image/png
você precisa descobrir exatamente o nome do arquivo de desktop do Ristretto. depois, você poderia verificar isso com isto:
xdg-mime query default image/png