**The National Council Chamber: with the mural by Charles Giron and the sculpture by Antonio Chiattone to the left.** parlament.ch

The royal seal of approval

Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi, visited Switzerland nine times and was an admirer of Swiss art, of which she purchased two pieces – setting in motion a trail of events that led all the way to the Federal Palace in Bern.

Michael van Orsouw

Michael van Orsouw has a PhD in history and is a performance poet and author. He regularly publishes historical books.

Website: geschichte-texte.ch

Do you know the National Council Chamber in the Federal Palace? You may have seen it on television or visited the stronghold of Swiss democracy. If so, you can’t fail to have noticed a large and prominent mural. Located behind the Presiding College, it stands proudly at 11.5 metres wide and five metres high: it is called ’The Cradle of the Confederation’ and displays Urnersee lake, Rütli meadow, the valley floor in Schwyz and the Mythen mountain. It was painted by Genevan artist Charles Giron in 1902. Just to the left of the monumental mural is a sculpture of William Tell in a niche. He is sitting on a rock gazing into the distance, his crossbow placed over his knee seems to be the last thing on his mind. Ticino sculptor Antonio Chiattone produced this work, also in 1902, before the Federal Palace was opened.

**Charles Giron from Geneva: painted by his artist colleague John Singer Sargent.** Wikimedia

**Antonio Chiattone from Lugano: the Empress’s approval catapulted him to fame.** Wikimedia

Girod and Chiattone would never have got those commissions for the Federal Palace had they not been acquainted with Empress Elisabeth of Austria. Her Majesty, known as Sisi, visited Switzerland nine times between 1867 and 1898 and during that time met the two artists – Girod from Romandy and Chiattone from Ticino. Charles Giron (1850–1914) was managing an art studio in Territet (canton of Vaud) at the time. In March 1898, Sisi visited his premises and purchased his oil painting La nourrice. It shows an Italian wet nurse breastfeeding a baby. It was an intimate scene painted by Giron, and one which was rarely depicted at the time. That may have piqued Sisi’s interest, even if she never breastfed her own offspring and found small children rather tiresome.

‘La nourrice’ by Giron: the Empress bought this painting in Montreux-Territet, close to her hotel. — *La nourrice* by Giron: the Empress bought this painting in Montreux-Territet, close to her hotel. Vintage MagArchive

The statue and shrouded figure in the bedroom

Sisi had already bought a work from Ticino sculptor Antonio Chiattone (1856–1904) prior to that. When visiting an exhibition in Lugano in April 1894, she noticed his statue Il dolore a mourning, life-size female figure. Chiattone’s bronze work that caught Sisi’s eye shows a wraithlike lady wearing a loose-fitting dress and hood. Her head is inclined, the eyes closed. She holds an olive branch pointing upwards in her delicate hands.

‘Il dolore’ by Chiattone: Sisi kept the monument in her bedroom in Vienna. — *Il dolore* by Chiattone: Sisi kept the monument in her bedroom in Vienna. Luc-Henri Roger

Having acquired the piece, Sisi had it transported to Vienna. But the sculpture didn’t end up in the imperial grounds, nor did it fade into obscurity in the cellar housing the Empress’s art collection. The Empress was so taken by the statue that she had it placed in her bedroom at Hermesvilla palace, where it remains on display to this day. She even organised viridescent lighting from below to add ambience to the work. The sale of his sculpture to the Empress propelled Chiattone from relative obscurity as an artist only known within his region to someone of international repute who could exhibit in Milan or Paris if he wished. Chiattone also made another piece for the Empress; she actually commissioned him to perform a major work. He was to create a monument for her imperial Achilleion villa in Corfu in memory of her son Rudolf, the crown prince and successor to the throne who had committed suicide in 1889. It was a great honour to receive a commission from the Empress for such a personal monument. Her Majesty preferred Chiattone over many famous Austrian artists. The Neue Zürcher Zeitung newspaper praised the order as a ‘success for the Swiss arts sector in general and Ticino artistry in particular’. Antonio Chiattone completed three drafts and presented elaborate sketches to Sisi. She received them enthusiastically. A few months later, the monument stood ready in his Lugano workshop. Chiattone dismantled it and took the statue to Corfu to put it up and attend the inauguration. The Ticino native’s work was an imposing piece from all angles at six metres high and three metres wide.

**The Swiss artist’s six-metre high monument: made in Lugano for Empress Elizabeth’s Corfu villa.** Wienbibliothek im Rathaus

A broken pillar rises up from the statue’s broad base as a symbol of Rudolf’s incomplete life. The pedestal features a medallion with a life-size picture of the crown prince and successor to the throne who died before his time. A female, angelic figure with outstretched wings leans on the pillar holding her arms protectively over Rudolf and completing the ensemble.

A grand unveiling and a royal faux pas

Chiattone met the Empress at the official inauguration on 22 April 1895. Helpers unveiled the monument and the monarch stood as still as the statue for about ten minutes as she surveyed the work. She started to well up, albeit only briefly as Sisi quickly pulled herself together and resumed her majestic bearing wiping away her tears. With measured steps, she approached the Ticino artist and said, her voice shaking: “Chiattone, I am most fortunate to have found an artist who knew how to create this piece the way I wanted it.” Elisabeth of Austria then extended her hand to the Ticino sculptor for him to kiss, as was the custom at the time. However, Chiattone not being versed in royal etiquette did not know that. He took Elisabeth’s hand unceremoniously in his own rather large, strong sculptor’s hands and pressed it with an overflowing exuberance, which must have caused embarrassment in the royal court. Nonetheless, the Empress pretended not to notice the artist’s faux pas. Some years later, following Sisi’s violent death in 1898 on the shore of Lake Geneva, Chiattone was commissioned to make the memorial – the Sisi monument in the Parc des Roses, Montreux-Territet. It is a life-size statue of the Empress sitting on a bench, her chin resting on her left arm as she gazes somewhat wistfully over Lake Geneva.

**Chiattone’s Sisi monument of 1902: it is still in Parc des Roses, Montreux-Territet.** Wikimedia

The other Swiss artist connected to Sisi was, as mentioned above, Charles Giron of Romandy. He also found fame after the Empress purchased his work, which led to his being called to the renowned Federal Arts Commission. When the Commission was assigned the task of providing the artwork for the new Federal Palace, Giron jumped at the chance to make his own mark on the prestigious project: he designed the large mural in the National Council Chamber – his colleague Antonio Chiattone also got to display his sculpture of Tell in the niche nearby. The upshot of this tale is: if the Empress had not purchased Giron’s and Chiattone’s art, their careers would not have taken off in that way and they would not have had the opportunity to leave their artistic legacy in the National Council Chamber. It’s an ironic quirk of history that royal approval led to their being awarded the mandate to provide the artwork for the National Council Chamber, a place synonymous with Swiss democracy.

Visiting Royals – From Sisi to Queen Elizabeth

13.06.2025 09.11.2025 / National Museum Zurich

Although Switzerland has no royal tradition, royal families have long held a certain fascination for the Swiss. All royal visits, whether by an emperor, empress, king, queen, prince or princess, and for whatever reason, whether politics, business or personal, had one thing in common: they triggered – both then and now – immense excitement and fascination among the Swiss public. The exhibition demonstrates this through many pictures and exclusive possessions of these bluebloods.

More of: Royals Modern Age Politics Society Art

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