Colourful tour of La Paleyre

Born in 1918 in Lausanne, Jean Prahin quickly discovered he had a gift for painting and drawing. At the age of only twelve, he was already studying at the Ecole Romande de Dessin, but it was through his future profession, as a house painter, that he became familiar with decorative techniques; one of these was reverse glass painting and he developed a lively interest in this.

He chose to live in the heart of Lavaux in 1946 in a place called “La Paleyre”, where he set up his workshop. He was a neighbour of Ernest Biéler, who became his teacher and friend. Moreover, Biéler was the original choice to create the stained glass windows in the church at Chexbres, but upon his death, Jean Prahin was given the commission.

The house and the workshop of “La Paleyre”, where all his materials for creating the windows have been preserved, are open to the public for this exclusive experience.