Wender·Vista
Nîmes
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileFrance
in the Gard, south of Avignon

Nîmes

— — a Roman town that never put the columns down.

— 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
— Beside the kettle, a 12-inch propped
— 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

“Nîmes wears its Roman bones in daylight. The Arena still hosts the summer férias, the Maison Carrée still stands at the centre of the old town, and the Pont du Gard arches across the Gardon a half-hour east. The denim the world wears was first woven here as serge de Nîmes. The Mediterranean light is dry and a little gold.

from the studio
Nîmes
— bring it home

Nîmes, 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 Nîmes

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

Nîmes sits in the Gard department of southern France, in the Occitanie region, about 50 kilometres west of Avignon and 30 kilometres north of the Mediterranean coast. The city has roughly 150,000 residents and a continuous urban history reaching back to the colony Nemausus, founded under Augustus in the late first century BCE. The Maison Carrée was inscribed by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site in 2023, joining the Pont du Gard, which has held that status since 1985.

— the stone

Three Roman monuments anchor the city. The Arena, built around 70 CE, seated roughly 24,000 spectators and remains one of the best-preserved amphitheatres in the Roman world. The Maison Carrée, finished in the early first century CE, is among the most complete classical temples standing anywhere. The Pont du Gard, the aqueduct bridge that brought water to the city across the Gardon, rises 49 metres above the river in three tiers of arches. All three are still in regular public use.

— the year

The city year is shaped by the férias. The Féria de Pentecôte in spring and the Féria des Vendanges in September fill the Arena and the old town with bullfights, brass bands, and street tables that hold until dawn. Outside festival weeks the pace is Mediterranean and slow. Summer afternoons reach into the mid-thirties; the Mistral can blow hard through the Rhône valley in spring and autumn. The Jardins de la Fontaine, the eighteenth-century gardens around the Roman spring, stay cool through the heat.

— informed by Féria de Nîmes
— where
France · Gard, Occitanie
— elevation
39 m · 128 ft
— position
43.8367° N · 4.3601° E
— 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.
25 km NE
Pont du Gard
Roman aqueduct
25 km N
Uzès
medieval town
35 km SE
Arles
Roman city
50 km E
Avignon
papal city
50 km SW
Montpellier
regional capital
N
Nîmes
Pont du Gard
Uzès
Arles
Avignon
Montpellier
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Nîmes — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The city retains three of the most complete Roman monuments in France: the Arena, the Maison Carrée, and the nearby Pont du Gard aqueduct. It was a major Roman colony, Nemausus, founded under Augustus in the late first century BCE.

A Roman temple completed in the early first century CE and one of the most complete classical temples surviving anywhere. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 2023, the first of the Nîmes monuments to receive that status.

The Arena hosts the spring Féria de Pentecôte and the September Féria des Vendanges, summer concerts, and Roman re-enactments. It seats about 13,000 in modern configuration. The Roman builders fitted it for roughly 24,000.

A Roman aqueduct bridge across the Gardon river, built in the first century CE to carry water 50 kilometres from Uzès to Nîmes. It rises 49 metres in three tiers of arches and has been UNESCO-listed since 1985.

The fabric serge de Nîmes, a sturdy cotton-wool twill woven in the city from the seventeenth century, gave rise to the word denim. The blue indigo version became the working trouser fabric that Levi Strauss later popularised in California.

April to June and September to October. The light is long, the temperature is mild, and the férias bracket the season. July and August can push past 35°C and the city empties for the August holiday.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well. Nîmes is one of the great Roman cities of the western Mediterranean and a quiet favourite among classicists and Provence regulars. A Medium or Large tile with a handwritten note from the studio reads as recognition.

The warm limestone palette sits well with Provençal-modern, Mediterranean Minimalist, and Classical-revival interiors. The piece anchors a wall of pale plaster, oak, or natural linen without competing for attention.

Yes. Reid Wender is the curator and the artwork exists only here, one studio, no licensing. Each tile is hand-finished in Knoxville, Tennessee.

A single Large reads cleanly above a console. Above a sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; a nine-tile Mural takes the architecture of a longer room.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The tile is sealed against humidity and steam, which makes it a good fit for a backsplash, shower wall, or powder room.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No abrasives, no solvents, no scouring pads. The colour lives in the surface and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Mediterranean-modern and Classical-revival directions are both well into a sustained moment. A piece like this reads as collected rather than themed, which is where the trend has settled.

— if this one stayed with you

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