2023-04-25 20:02:18
“The house on avenue Delleur is a mythical place in the adventures of Tintin“, comments us Benoit Peeters, writer, screenwriter, specialist in Tintin and Hergé. “The scene takes place on a stormy evening. We are in an atmosphere bordering on the fantastic. It’s a scene that many Tintin readers remember very well.“
“But what’s fun“, resumes Benoît Peeters, “it is to think that Hergé came as a neighbour. At the time, Hergé lived in Watermael-Boitsfort, at 17 avenue Delleur, on the other side of the street, a little further down. He was then working with Edgard P. Jacobs, who would later create ‘Blake and Mortimer’. Jacobs came from a more realistic school, he liked to be inspired by things. Jacobs then tells Hergé that he has found a house down the road, which would be great for Professor Bergamotte’s house. Hergé and Jacobs take a few steps with their sketchbook and take inspiration from the exterior of the house. Even if afterwards, they will transform it, magnify it, give it incredible scale in the ‘7 crystal balls’ album…”
Hergé has created a mysterious place
What amazes Benoît Peeters, “It’s that from a house on the side of the street and which is not very impressive, Hergé creates a completely mysterious place. In the comic strip, he shifts the house in relation to the road, he creates depth. We have a park, a gate, an alley, guards, growing trees… He creates a whole scene. His genius is to create a powerful and memorable setting. Whereas when you pass in front of this house, you have to do it twice to understand that it is Professor Bergamotte’s house. This character also comes at a time when scholars have been kidnapped, Bergamotte is the last, his house is protected… In short, Hergé really transformed this house…“
During scouting – the story is published in ‘Le Soir’ stolen from December 1943 – , in the heart of the Second World War, Hergé and Jacobs never entered the house. The interiors in the album therefore do not correspond to reality. “Hergé was unable to enter it, especially since, according to himself, who will tell it later, the house was a Gestapo headquarters or in any case occupied by the Germans during the war. Hergé and Jacobs took a risk by ignoring him. While they were making their sketches, they could have been arrested and accused of spying or planning an attack. Even if Hergé and Jacobs are not known to have been resistance fighters.“
Masterpieces made in Boitsfort
At the entrance to the house, a small plaque with the photo of Professor Bergamotte, affixed by the current owners, indicates the particularity of the place.
For Benoit Peeters, “this house carries a story. On this very wide avenue, pedestrians are invited to descend and see this group of three small houses on avenue Delleur where Hergé, Jacobs and other collaborators worked until 1950. In Boitsfort, Hergé gave birth to many masterpieces: ‘The secret of the unicorn’, ‘The treasure of Red Rackham’, ‘The 7 crystal balls’, ‘The temple of the sun’, ‘In the land of black gold’… Hergé was an ‘echte brusseleir’, a true Brussels resident. He was born in Brussels, he died there. From this city, he succeeded in making the character of Tintin shine in the whole world.“
1682460308
#Tintin #Crystal #Balls #Professor #Bergamottes #real #villa #sale