Wender·Vista
Altes Museum
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileGermany
on Museum Island, across the Lustgarten from the Berliner Dom

Altes Museum

— — a long colonnade keeping the antiquities in.

— 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

“Karl Friedrich Schinkel's neoclassical museum, completed in 1830 on the north side of the Lustgarten. The façade is eighteen Ionic columns long. Inside, a rotunda modelled on the Pantheon holds the city's collection of classical sculpture. The Altes Museum is the oldest of the five buildings on Berlin's Museum Island, the ensemble named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. from the studio

from the studio
Altes Museum
— bring it home

Altes Museum, 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 Altes Museum

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

The Altes Museum stands on the north edge of the Lustgarten, a public garden between the Berliner Dom and the river Spree. It was Prussia's first public museum, commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm III and opened in 1830. The building is the oldest of the five museums of the Museumsinsel, the island-quarter inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999. The collection on view today is the Antikensammlung: Greek, Etruscan, and Roman art held by the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin.

— informed by Wikipedia, UNESCO
— the stone

The architect Karl Friedrich Schinkel set the façade as eighteen Ionic columns running the full length of the building, raised on a tall plinth and crowned by a square attic block. The portico is reached by a single wide staircase that opens to the Lustgarten. Inside, the central rotunda lifts to a coffered dome modelled on the Pantheon in Rome. Schinkel saw the museum as a civic temple for a new public. The sandstone has weathered to a soft warm grey.

— the visit

The Altes Museum is on Bodestraße in the Mitte district, a five-minute walk from Hackescher Markt S-Bahn or Museumsinsel U-Bahn. It opens Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays. Admission is around twelve euros for the standard ticket; the Berlin Museum Pass and the Museumsinsel combined ticket both include it. The main floor holds the Greek collection and the rotunda; the upper floor holds the Etruscan and Roman rooms. Mornings are quietest. Photography is permitted without flash in the permanent galleries.

— informed by SMB visit information
— where
Germany · Mitte, Berlin
— elevation
34 m · 112 ft
— position
52.5191° N · 13.3984° 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.
0.2 km E
Berliner Dom
cathedral
0.2 km N
Neues Museum
museum
0.3 km N
Pergamon Museum
museum
N
Altes Museum
Berliner Dom
Neues Museum
Pergamon Museum
— common questions

What people ask.

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

On the north side of the Lustgarten in Berlin's Mitte district, opposite the Berliner Dom. It is the first of the five museums of the Museumsinsel, reached on foot from Hackescher Markt.

Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Prussia's leading neoclassical architect. The building was commissioned by Friedrich Wilhelm III, begun in 1825, and opened to the public in 1830 as the country's first public museum.

The Antikensammlung: Berlin's collection of classical antiquities, including Greek vases and bronzes, Etruscan jewellery, and Roman portrait sculpture. The wider holdings are partly shared with the Neues Museum next door.

Yes. The five museums of the Museumsinsel were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 for their architectural ensemble and the unity of their curatorial program across two centuries.

Open Tuesday through Sunday, closed Mondays. The standard ticket is around twelve euros and includes the permanent collection; the Museumsinsel combined ticket covers all five buildings on the island.

— about the piece in your home

It tends to land for friends and family who studied at Humboldt, lived in Mitte, or visit the city for the museum quarter. A Small or Medium with a note from the studio carries well.

The grey-warm sandstone tones suit Classical-modern interiors, library and study rooms, and restrained Maximalist spaces with antique books and brass. It pairs cleanly with old prints and dark wood.

Yes. The current Quiet Luxury and English-country revival both lean on classical architecture as a reference. The tile reads at home in either, without becoming themed or period-locked.

A single Large carries above a console. Over a sofa, the 4-tile or 9-tile Mural extends the colonnade across the wall and reads at the right scale for the room.

Yes. Order Dura Satin or Matte for either. Both are scratch-resistant and tolerate steam; the colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not lift with cleaning or time.

Yes. Every piece in the WenderVista atlas comes from one studio in Knoxville, Tennessee, with Reid Wender as the curating eye. There is no outside licensing.

— if this one stayed with you

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