Light snow is tumbling as we stroll through the pretty village of Pontresina in the Upper Engadin in the Swiss Alps with creative director and author Pauline Martinet.
Traditional Sgraffito house facade with a mermaid figure.Credit: Getty Images
Dwarfed by lofty snow-covered mountains dotted with fir trees, the village is flanked by the Bernina Massif, with a dazzling landscape that mirrors those perfect photos on old chocolate boxes.
Martinet invites us to look up at decorations adorning the facades of traditional Swiss houses, unlocking the old art form known as sgraffito that dates back 500 years.
She became fascinated by sgraffito during pandemic confinement, but she could find little information about it, so she decided to write a book on the artform.
“I kept discovering fascinating things about sgraffito and the book just got bigger,” she says.
Sgraffito craftsmanship.
Her book, Sgrafits, traces the history and features standout examples in 28 villages of the region, plus the artists who still create the distinctive decoration.
“For at least five centuries, Engadin families have enhanced the facades of their homes with great care, sometimes ostentatiously, often delicately, with the aim of embellishing their abode and the generosity of yesteryear continues to dazzle visitors,” she says.
“These houses have survived wars and fires to finally reach us, decorated with sgraffiti.”
Martinet says she fell in love with both primitive and sophisticated designs when she visited each village and spoke to craftspeople who still practice the age-old art form.
“The book is a transcription of what these walls and these people have passed on to me; stories that are passed down like legends through the generations,” she says.
Even today, homeowners continue to decorate their houses using this technique. The earliest found in Switzerland date from between 1540 and 1600.
“A sgraffito is not painted but drawn in mortar and a coat of lime, which can be tinted with mineral pigments, by crushing different stones,” she says.
The golden age of sgraffito started with geometric motifs often above windows and cornices.
“Artists imitated these elements in relief by drawing them like trompe-l’oeil making a farmhouse look like a patrician villa. This is the art of illusion,” she says.
It was followed by a more baroque style with leaves, tendrils, tulips and bouquets of flowers.
“The fact that this tradition continues today enables us to call it a living tradition,” she says.
Tell-tale markings on a winding street in an older part of the Inn District, Switzerland. Credit: Getty Images
It’s a little like playing a sophisticated version of Spotto as we search for sgraffito and soon spy a mermaid, a fish and a dragon on houses we pass.
Martinet says there is no specific answer to what they represent; they are open to interpretation.
“Talk to the locals and you could get a different story every time,” she says.
Stark beauty by design.
We return to the historic Grand Kronenhof Hotel, known as the grand dame of Swiss hospitality, for high tea in a magnificent Belle Epoque-style lobby lounge with its frescoed ceilings and its jewel coloured decor.
We have earned it after our snow walk, which is one of the unique High Life Experiences offered at the hotel and its big sister, the historic Kulm Hotel, nearby in chic St Moritz.
They include moonlight paragliding with a paragliding master Davide Grosina and high-altitude training along the breathtaking Philosopher’s Path on Muottas Muragl with sports scientist Anne-Marie Flammersfeld.
But I’m hooked on sgraffito spotting, even though I wake with a slightly stiff neck the next morning.
THE DETAILS
FLY + TRAIN
Etihad Airways connects to Zurich via Abu Dhabi from Sydney and Melbourne. See etihad.com
Swiss Travel Pass provides unlimited transport on trains, buses, boats and public transport plus free entry to 500 museums. See myswitzerland.com/tickets
STAY
A Grand Deluxe Junior Suite at Grand Hotel Kronenhof with half-board in the summer season from 1020 Swiss francs ($1710). The Sgraffito High Points tour costs 400 Swiss francs for a two-hour experience for two people, including a picnic. See kronenhof.com
The writer was a guest of Grand Kronenhof Hotel and Swiss Travel Pass.
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