Wender·Vista
Basilica of San Vitale
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
in Ravenna, on the old Adriatic coast of Emilia-Romagna

Basilica of San Vitale

— — gold tesserae holding a sixth-century afternoon.

— 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

“An octagonal Byzantine church in Ravenna, consecrated in 547 under Bishop Maximian and paid for by the banker Julianus Argentarius. Inside, the apse mosaics still hold Justinian and Theodora in attendant procession, and the green and gold ceiling has not dimmed in fifteen hundred years. Light enters the upper windows and rests on the marble inlays below — the same light Galla Placidia would have known.

from the studio
Basilica of San Vitale
— bring it home

Basilica of San Vitale, 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 Vitale

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 Vitale stands in the centre of Ravenna, the Byzantine capital of the Western Roman Empire after 540. Construction began under Bishop Ecclesius around 526 and the church was consecrated in 547 by Bishop Maximian. Its plan is an octagon within an octagon, an Eastern form rare in the Latin West, with a presbytery and apse pushed out on the east. The donor, the banker Julianus Argentarius, also funded Sant'Apollinare in Classe a few kilometres south. UNESCO inscribed San Vitale and seven other early Christian monuments of Ravenna as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

— the light

The basilica's mosaics cover roughly two hundred square metres of the presbytery and apse, set in gold-leaf glass tesserae backed with a thin sheet of metal to throw light back into the room. The two famous panels face each other across the chancel: the emperor Justinian with his attendants and Bishop Maximian on the north wall, the empress Theodora with her ladies on the south. The figures are slightly tipped forward, the gold backgrounds undimmed since the sixth century. Morning light from the east windows catches the apse first; the imperial panels read best in the early afternoon.

— the visit

The basilica is open daily and is reached on foot from Ravenna's main railway station in about fifteen minutes. A single combined ticket covers San Vitale, the Mausoleum of Galla Placidia next door, the Archiepiscopal Museum, the Neonian Baptistery and Sant'Apollinare Nuovo. The mausoleum admits only a small group at a time, so the morning slot tends to be quieter. Photography without flash is permitted. The basilica is still consecrated and occasionally closes for Mass. Spring and autumn are easier on the light and on the crowds than midsummer.

— where
Italy · Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna
— elevation
4 m · 13 ft
— position
44.4204° N · 12.1962° 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.
at the lake
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
fifth-century mausoleum
8 km S
Sant'Apollinare in Classe
sixth-century basilica
1 km E
Tomb of Dante
poet's tomb
35 km N
Comacchio
lagoon town
N
Basilica of San Vitale
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
Sant'Apollinare in Classe
Tomb of Dante
Comacchio
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Construction began around 526 under Bishop Ecclesius and the church was consecrated in 547 by Bishop Maximian. The mosaics were completed shortly after, while Ravenna was the Byzantine capital of the Western empire.

The banker Julianus Argentarius, who also financed Sant'Apollinare in Classe a few kilometres south. Contemporary accounts say he spent 26,000 gold solidi, an enormous sum for a private patron of the period.

A presbytery panel showing the emperor Justinian I with Bishop Maximian, soldiers, and clergy in procession bearing the Eucharistic gifts. The matching panel opposite shows the empress Theodora with her court of ladies-in-waiting.

The double-octagon plan reflects Eastern Byzantine architecture and was rare in Latin churches of the period. It later influenced Charlemagne's Palatine Chapel in Aachen, which was modelled on San Vitale around 800.

Yes. San Vitale remains a consecrated Catholic basilica and occasionally closes for Mass. It is jointly cared for by the Archdiocese of Ravenna-Cervia and the Italian state heritage authority.

Yes. San Vitale was inscribed in 1996 with seven other early Christian monuments of Ravenna, recognising the most complete surviving group of fifth- and sixth-century mosaic interiors in the world.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. San Vitale is one of the most studied buildings in art history. A Medium or Large with a handwritten studio note travels well to an art historian, an architect, or a recent pilgrim.

The piece reads well against Old-World Maximalist, Mediterranean Modern, and warm Minimalist rooms. It sits at ease beside walnut, brass, and worn stone, and works above a reading chair or a writing desk.

A single Large fills a standard sofa wall. For a longer console wall, the four-tile Mural reads as a fragment of the apse; the nine-tile Mural opens the full octagon.

Yes. Order it in Dura Satin or Matte for installations near water or steam. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and does not lift with cleaning or humidity.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasive scrubs. The thin glossy finish keeps the colour stable for decades of normal household use.

Yes. Reid Wender is the curator and the eye behind every WenderVista piece. The work is hand-finished in our Knoxville studio and is not licensed from any third party.

— 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