Sgraffiti in Engadine

10 April 2023

Engadine (canton Grisons) houses are often decorated with geometric motifs, drawings, animals or sayings. Italian artists introduced the technique in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, following the Bündner expansion into Italian territories. The artists wanted to earn money, and the fresco technique was well-known in Italy.

It was a successful export product. The technology is universal and can also be found in Africa and other parts of Europe, such as in Bohemia and on the island of Chios in the Aegean Sea.

The name graffiti means ils sgrafito in Romansh. It is a simple fresco technique that involves applying white paint directly to the mortar. Motifs can be used as long as the colour is wet. The colour difference between white and grey makes the motifs visible. Graffiti is a real art.

(Source: A. Overath, Gebrauchsanweisung für das Engadin, München, Berlin, 2017).