From 1815 a canton in southern Switzerland. It borders on France and Italy and has some of Switzerland's highest peaks including the Matterhorn, Dufourspitze, Dom and Weisshorn. In Praeterita (1885-89) Ruskin recalls approaching the Simplon through the valley of Valais. He compares the geological formation of the Montagne du Tacondy and of the north side of the Valais with that of Saddleback in Cumberland. The Valais is also the setting for Ruskin's contrasting chapters 'The Mountain Glory' and 'The Mountain Gloom' in Modern Painters IV (1856). See also Sion.