Wender·Vista
Basilica of San Clemente
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
a few blocks east of the Colosseum

Basilica of San Clemente

— — a church built on a church built on a Roman house.

— 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

“The basilica three streets from the Colosseum that goes down instead of up. The upper church is twelfth-century, gilded and apsed. A staircase off the side aisle drops to a fourth-century basilica with faded frescoes, then again to a first-century Mithraeum where water still runs through Roman drains. The Irish Dominicans have kept the keys since 1667.

from the studio
Basilica of San Clemente
— bring it home

Basilica of San Clemente, 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 Basilica of San Clemente

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 Basilica of San Clemente al Laterano sits on Via Labicana in Rome's Monti rione, about 300 metres east of the Colosseum and 700 metres from the Lateran. The current upper basilica was built around 1100, after the Norman sack of 1084 damaged the earlier structure. Below it lies a fourth-century basilica converted from a Roman aristocrat's house, and beneath that a first-century Mithraeum and an alley of imperial-era buildings. Pope Clement XI granted the complex to the Irish Dominicans in 1667; they have administered it since.

— the stone

The upper nave is divided by ancient Ionic and Corinthian columns reused from earlier Roman buildings, a common Roman practice known as spolia. The twelfth-century apse mosaic shows the Cross as a vine, with twelve doves for the apostles, set against gold tesserae. The Cosmati pavement is laid in geometric patterns of recycled porphyry and serpentine. The schola cantorum at the centre of the nave was lifted intact from the fourth-century basilica below and reinstalled in the new one.

— informed by Basilica San Clemente
— the visit

The basilica stands at Via Labicana 95, a ten-minute walk from the Colosseo Metro on Line B. The upper church is open daily without charge for prayer and viewing. Access to the lower basilica and the Mithraeum requires a timed ticket, currently 10 euro, sold at the gift shop just inside the side door. The lower levels are reached by a stone staircase and are about 18 metres below street level; the air is noticeably cooler and damp.

— informed by Basilica San Clemente
— where
Italy · Rome, Lazio
— position
41.8893° N · 12.4977° 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.
0.3 km W
Colosseum
Roman amphitheatre
0.7 km E
San Giovanni in Laterano
papal basilica
0.5 km NW
Domus Aurea
Roman palace ruin
N
Basilica of San Clemente
Colosseum
San Giovanni in Laterano
Domus Aurea
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Basilica of San Clemente — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

It is three churches stacked on the same site. A twelfth-century basilica sits on top, a fourth-century one below, and a first-century Roman house with a Mithraeum at the bottom, about 18 metres beneath the modern street.

The Irish Dominican Order. Pope Clement XI gave the church to the Dominicans of Ireland in 1667 after the Reformation closed their houses at home, and they have kept the keys for more than three centuries.

At Via Labicana 95 in the Monti rione of Rome, about three blocks east of the Colosseum and a short walk from San Giovanni in Laterano. The nearest Metro stop is Colosseo on Line B.

A small temple to the Persian god Mithras, used by Roman soldiers and merchants in the late first and second centuries. The cult chamber here still holds its altar with a relief of Mithras slaying a bull.

Yes. An underground spring drains through first-century Roman channels beneath the lowest level. The sound carries through the Mithraeum corridor and is one of the strangest acoustic moments in central Rome.

— about the piece in your home

It often is. San Clemente connects both: a Roman basilica entrusted to the Irish Dominicans since 1667. A Medium with a handwritten studio note carries well to a priest, a returning pilgrim, or someone who studied in Rome.

The deep gold mosaic palette and stone-warm midtones suit Old-World Traditional, warm Minimalist, and library studies in oak or walnut. It also reads well against limewashed plaster in a Mediterranean-leaning room.

Yes. The current shift from cool greys to warm earth and gilded accents lands neatly here. Gold tesserae and porphyry reds give the piece warmth without the saturation of full Maximalism.

A single Large reads well above a console or a reading chair. Above a standard three-seat sofa, a 4-tile Mural fills the wall; a 9-tile Mural is the right scale for tall ceilings or a stair landing.

Yes, on the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and unbothered by steam. The Glossy finish is best kept to framed wall pieces away from direct splash.

A soft microfibre cloth with water. No abrasives, no solvents. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not fade with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted and finished in our single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. The artwork is not licensed to third parties or sold through other channels.

— if this one stayed with you

A few you might also love.

Hand-picked by the eye that found Sorapis. Same air, same kind of quiet.
— a collection

The Italian Dolomites,
painted slow.

The valleys between Cortina and Val Gardena, the tarns you walk an hour to see, the towers that turn the colour of a banked fire just before dark. Wander the collection by valley, by season, or follow the path Reid walked.

Tre Cime
Braies
Misurina
Sorapis
Cinque Torri
Sassolungo
Marmolada