If there's one thing that hasn't aged in photographs over the years, it's these three: Chillon Castle, the Dents du Midi and Lake Geneva. As beautiful as each other captured separately, their combination sublimates the postcards of yesterday and today. 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘂𝗿 𝗹𝗮 𝗰𝗿𝗲́𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗱'𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗲 𝗹𝗲́𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗾𝘂𝗲.
The picture is familiar. In the background are the majestic 𝗗𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗱𝘂 𝗠𝗶𝗱𝗶, often covered in snow. Closer by, the 𝗟𝗲́𝗺𝗮𝗻 and its pure water in various shades halo the king of the picture: the 𝗰𝗵𝗮̂𝘁𝗲𝗮𝘂 𝗱𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗻. The alignment is picturesque, but it wasn't always so.
While the first two have stood side by side since the retreat of the Rhône glacier, the latter did not appear in its current form until the 12th century. Far from being an aesthetic concern, the location of Chillon Castle is the result of strategic considerations. Situated on one of the 6 islands of Lake Geneva, between a steep slope and the lake, it enabled a garrison to control the trade route between northern and southern Europe.
It was at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries that the view from Veytaux began to be appreciated. The emergence of landscape painting and picturesque journeys found a majestic setting in Chillon. The contrasts are numerous: human-nature, vertical-horizontal, rock-water, the viewpoint is immortalised by many artists. 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 (1809), 𝗖𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗯𝗲𝘁 (1875) and 𝗨𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗼 (1915-1916) have all contributed through their paintings and drawings to making this place, or rather the view of this place, an extremely famous setting.
This sublime painting later became an integral part of the imagination of the lake through postcards and advertisements, particularly railway advertisements (SBB 1928). Today, 𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 𝗱𝗲 𝘃𝘂𝗲 𝗱𝗲 𝗩𝗲𝘆𝘁𝗮𝘂𝘅 𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻𝘂 𝗹'𝘂𝗻𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗰𝗶𝗽𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗺𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝗽𝗮𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗺𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀 𝗱𝘂 𝗟𝗲́𝗺𝗮𝗻, probably shares the throne with the view from Chexbres.
Photos: SBB advertising 1928, The Electric Simplon Line; M. Utrillo, 1916, "Château de Chillon".
𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐬 :
- Lémaniques n°55 "Imaginary geography of the lake
- Une info en 60' n°6 The Mystery of the Lake Geneva Islands.
