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Origin and history

The Chattrix Chapel is a Baroque-style religious building located in Saint-Gervais-les-Bains, Haute-Savoie department. Built at the end of the 17th century and redesigned at the beginning of the 18th century, it is dedicated to Saint Donat and Saint Léonard, two holy figures represented in its interior canvases. Its interior decoration, financed by the brothers Gervais, Joseph and Guillaume Genamy, merchants from Saint-Nicolas-de-Véroce, reflects the influence of local elites linked to international trade, notably at the Imperial Court of Vienna.

The chapel houses a leather altar of Cordoba surmounted by a painting of the Coronation of the Virgin (circa 1730) by Czech painter Philippe-Christian de Bentum. Its façade, decorated with two medallions, bears moralizing inscriptions dated 1722, mixing reflections on mortality and the quest for salvation. Built in 1694, it was modified in 1720–23 before being classified as a historic monument in 1976 and restored in 2010.

The building illustrates Savoyard Baroque art, marked by a mixture of local and European influences. Its history is linked to the piety and prosperity of the merchant families of the region, which financed its beautification. The Genamy brothers, in particular, symbolize this link between Savoy and the European courts, while anchoring the chapel in the religious and cultural landscape of Saint-Gervais-les-Bains.

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