Wender·Vista
Kythira
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileGreece
off the south tip of the Peloponnese, between the Ionian and Aegean

Kythira

— the island the goddess came up from.

— 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

“A small Greek island off the south tip of the Peloponnese, where the Ionian and Aegean meet. Kythira is the mythological birthplace of Aphrodite, said to have risen from the sea foam offshore. The Venetians held it for four centuries and left a castle above the harbour town of Chora. There are stone-paved villages, a long waterfall in Mylopotamos, and quiet beaches the mainland never finds.

from the studio
Kythira
— bring it home

Kythira, 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 Kythira

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

Kythira lies off the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese, in the strait between the Ionian and Aegean seas. The island covers about 280 square kilometres and has a permanent population of roughly 3,600, rising in summer. Administratively it belongs to the Islands regional unit of Attica, though it sits closer to the Laconian mainland. The capital, Chora, holds the Venetian Kastro above the harbour of Kapsali. Antoine Watteau's 1717 painting Pilgrimage to Cythera made the island a touchstone of European Romantic landscape.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the stone

The Venetian Kastro at Chora stands on a rock spur above Kapsali bay, built between the 13th and 16th centuries during four centuries of Venetian rule under the Stato da Mar. Its walls hold a small Orthodox church, a magazine, and the foundations of the old Venetian governor's residence. Below, in the village of Mylopotamos, the Neraida waterfall drops about 20 metres into a pool surrounded by old stone watermill ruins. The whole island is built in undressed limestone.

— informed by Wikipedia: Stato da Mar
— the year

Greek tradition holds that Aphrodite rose from the sea foam off Kythira and stepped ashore here before continuing to Cyprus; Hesiod's Theogony, composed around 700 BCE, names Kythira first. The island gives the goddess one of her epithets, Kythereia. Antoine Watteau's 1717 painting L'Embarquement pour Cythere, now in the Louvre, fixed Kythira in the European imagination as the island of love and gentle pilgrimage, though the historical island has nothing of fete-galante about it.

— where
Greece · Kythira, Islands regional unit, Attica
— position
36.2406° N · 23.0089° 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.
38 km SE
Antikythera
island
40 km N
Neapoli
ferry port
N
Kythira
Antikythera
Neapoli
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Kythira is a Greek island off the southeastern tip of the Peloponnese, in the strait between the Ionian and Aegean seas. It belongs administratively to the Islands regional unit of Attica.

In Greek tradition, yes. Hesiod's Theogony, composed around 700 BCE, names Kythira as the first place the goddess of love came ashore from the sea foam before continuing on to Cyprus.

By ferry from Neapoli or Gythio on the Peloponnese mainland, or by short flight from Athens to the island's small airport at Aroniadika. The crossing from Neapoli takes about one hour.

The permanent population is roughly 3,600 across about 280 square kilometres, spread across more than 60 small villages. Numbers rise considerably in summer with returning diaspora families and visitors.

Chora, also called Kythira town, sits at the southern end of the island above the harbour of Kapsali. The Venetian Kastro on the rock spur above Kapsali is the island's defining landmark.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The piece suits Kytherian-Australian and Kytherian-American families with deep diaspora roots, returning travellers, and lovers of the lesser-known Greek islands. A Small or Medium carries the colour cleanly.

The sea-blue ground and white-stone palette reads well with Coastal-modern, Mediterranean, and warm Minimalist rooms. The piece holds its own against linen, lime plaster, and pale wood.

Yes. Painted Greek-island vistas anchor the current Coastal-modern and quiet-Mediterranean direction. The piece reads as a specific island rather than a generic sea view.

Above a standard sofa or console, a single Large reads as a focused statement. A four-tile Mural carries the bay across about 32 inches; a nine-tile Mural fills a feature wall.

Yes. Choose Dura Satin or Matte for kitchens, bathrooms, and other humid rooms. Both finishes are scratch-resistant and clean with a microfibre cloth and water.

A microfibre cloth and plain water. The colour is slowly infused into the ceramic surface under high heat and pressure beneath a thin glossy finish, so it holds up to everyday cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house in the studio's signature stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. One studio, one eye, no licensing.

— if this one stayed with you

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