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The divine at hand

Folk religiosity is not only an interpretation of the official doctrines. It covers changing ideas about medicine, hygiene, magical prophylactics, cosmology and divination. Its scope is broad, embracing the biological life cycle (with its religious and secular rituals) as well as events in the civil or mythological calendar and even perception of the hereafter.

The Deserter's watercolours

The Alsatian artist Charles-Frédéric Brun, called "the Deserter", stayed in Valais between 1843 and 1844, then from 1848 to 1849. Taking his inspiration from popular prints, he drew Biblical figures and local saints. He did family portraits on the same model. His work, found in various social milieux, challenges the distinction between folk art and highbrow art, and the differentiation between the ritual and secular use of objects.