shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileBrazil

between the mountains and the Atlantic, in southeastern Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

Name: Rio de Janeiro — on ceramic tile, by WenderVista
Brand: WenderVista

— — the city the granite walks down to the sea.

— Where it lives

Not only on a wall.

A small tile on the nightstand catching the morning. A larger one above the fire. Yours, wherever you spend the slow hours.

— On the nightstand, a 6-inch on a walnut stand

— Among the books, a 6-inch leaning into the spines

— Down a quiet hall, an 18-inch floating off the wall

— Above the fire, the 24-inch in a walnut surround

— a note from the studio

“A city that grew up against the rock. Sugarloaf rises from the harbour, Corcovado wears the open-armed figure most of the world has seen, and the long curve of Copacabana keeps the sea at hand. Carnaval comes in February. The light off Guanabara Bay does something at dusk that photographs almost never catch.

from the studio

— bring it home

Rio de Janeiro, on ceramic.

Each tile is finished by hand in our Knoxville studio. Artwork is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure, and rests beneath a thin glossy finish. The colour lives in the surface, not on top of it.

What kind of piece?

One tile — square or rectangle.

How big?

the popular one — counter, shelf, nightstand

6 × 6 in · 15 cm · 1.6 lb

Surface finish

A clear glossy finish — the artwork reads as if under resin. Ideal for show-pieces and framed wall art.

How it sits

A hidden cleat — sits ¼″ proud of the wall.

$58

Hand-finished and shipped from our studio at the foot of the Smokies. On your wall in about ten days.

— size

6 × 6 in

15 cm

— weighs

1.6 lb

solid in the hand

— surface

ceramic, hand-finished

art rests beneath a thin glossy finish

— from

Knoxville, TN

our family studio, at the foot of the Smokies

— start a Coaster Set

Pick any four 4-inch tiles — National Parks you've been to, a Smokies set, the four seasons of one place. $ for a set of , cork-backed, ready to live on the table.

— about Rio de Janeiro

The place, in three passes.

A little of what's known, in case you fall down the rabbit hole — or want to go see it yourself.

— the place

Rio sits on the western shore of Guanabara Bay in southeastern Brazil, the country's second-largest city with about 6.2 million residents. Founded in 1565 by the Portuguese, it served as Brazil's capital from 1763 until Brasília took over in 1960. Granite peaks rise straight out of the urban fabric — Pão de Açúcar at 396 metres, Corcovado at 710 — and UNESCO inscribed the surrounding Carioca Landscapes Between the Mountain and the Sea as a World Heritage Site in 2012.

— informed by Wikipedia — Rio de Janeiro, UNESCO World Heritage — Rio

— the stone

The granite domes that define Rio are part of the Serra do Mar, ancient Precambrian rock exposed by millions of years of erosion. Pão de Açúcar and Corcovado are inselbergs, isolated monoliths left standing as softer rock around them weathered away. Christ the Redeemer, finished in 1931 by sculptor Paul Landowski with engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, stands 30 metres tall atop Corcovado. The Sugarloaf cable car has been running, in some form, since 1912.

— informed by Wikipedia — Christ the Redeemer, Wikipedia — Sugarloaf Mountain

— the visit

Christ the Redeemer is reached by the Corcovado Rack Railway from Cosme Velho, climbing through Tijuca National Park to the summit; tickets are timed and the line is busiest around midday. The Sugarloaf cable car runs from Praia Vermelha in two stages, with the upper station opening the wide view of Guanabara Bay. Carnaval falls the weekend before Ash Wednesday, with the Sambadrome parades on Sunday and Monday nights drawing the biggest crowds of the year.

— informed by Wikipedia — Tijuca National Park, Wikipedia — Rio Carnival

— where

Brazil · Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

— position

-22.9068° S · 43.1729° W

— the neighborhood

What's nearby.

A handful of named places within an hour's walk or short drive. Some we've already painted; some we will.

5 km E

Sugarloaf Mountain

granite peak

7 km W

Christ the Redeemer

monument

6 km S

Copacabana

beach

8 km S

Ipanema

beach

13 km E

Niterói

city across the bay

Rio de Janeiro

Sugarloaf Mountain

Christ the Redeemer

Copacabana

Ipanema

Niterói

— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Rio de Janeiro — and about bringing the piece home.

— about the place

It translates as Marvellous City, a nickname from a 1935 song by André Filho that became the unofficial anthem. It refers to the meeting of mountains, forest, and sea around Guanabara Bay.

The statue stands 30 metres tall on an 8-metre base, atop the 710-metre Corcovado peak. Designed by Heitor da Silva Costa with sculpture by Paul Landowski, it opened in October 1931.

Carnaval runs the five days before Ash Wednesday, typically in late February or early March. The main Sambadrome parades by the top samba schools happen on Carnival Sunday and Monday nights.

No. Brasília became the federal capital in 1960. Rio remains the capital of Rio de Janeiro state and the country's second-largest city by population.

Both are beachfront neighbourhoods in the South Zone. Copacabana stretches about four kilometres with the older boardwalk and grand hotels; Ipanema, named in the 1962 bossa nova standard, is shorter and considered more upscale.

The city proper holds about 6.2 million residents, with roughly 13 million in the metropolitan region. That makes Rio the second-largest city in Brazil after São Paulo.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Cariocas hold the city close; the silhouette of Sugarloaf and Corcovado is shorthand for home. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio travels well.

The warm coastal palette suits Coastal-modern, Tropical-modern, and Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms. The strong silhouette also anchors a Minimalist wall where a single piece carries the colour.

Yes. Biophilic design pulls in natural light, organic form, and views to landscape. The granite peaks and bay light read the same role on a wall that a window would.

A single Large reads from across a room. Above a wider sofa, a four-tile Mural in the same image holds the wall; a nine-tile Mural fits double-height entries and stairwells.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both finishes resist moisture and scratching, so the piece can live above a vanity or a backsplash.

Microfibre cloth, lukewarm water. No abrasives, no ammonia. The colour lives in the surface, so the piece will not fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender and hand-finished in-house in Knoxville, Tennessee. No licensing, no third-party imagery.

— if this one stayed with you