Wender·Vista
Basilica of Santa Croce
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
east of the Duomo, in central Florence

Basilica of Santa Croce

— — the room where Italy keeps its dead.

— 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 Franciscan basilica on the east side of Florence's old centre. Inside, along the aisles, lie Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini, each under a marble monument. The nave is wide, plain, and tall, the way a Franciscan church is supposed to be. Outside, the piazza fills with afternoon football and the long shadow of the Neo-Gothic facade. The air smells of stone and old wax. — from the studio

from the studio
Basilica of Santa Croce
— bring it home

Basilica of Santa Croce, 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 Santa Croce

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

Santa Croce is the principal Franciscan church of Florence and the largest Franciscan church in the world. Construction began in 1294, traditionally attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio, on the site of an earlier Franciscan oratory east of the Duomo. The plan is a wide Egyptian-cross nave with an open timber roof, sixteen chapels, and a long apse decorated by Agnolo Gaddi. The marble Neo-Gothic facade was added much later, in 1863, designed by Niccolò Matas and funded in part by the English-Jewish philanthropist Francis Sloane.

— the stone

The interior holds roughly 300 tomb-slabs and wall monuments, which earned the basilica its second name, the Pantheon of the Italian Glories. Michelangelo's monument, designed by Giorgio Vasari in 1570, stands along the south aisle. Galileo lies opposite, reinterred there in 1737 after a long Church embargo on his burial. Machiavelli's tomb dates to 1787; Rossini was moved into the church in 1900. Dante has a cenotaph but not a body, since his remains are still in Ravenna. The Pazzi Chapel, just off the first cloister, is one of Filippo Brunelleschi's quiet masterworks.

— the visit

Santa Croce is open most days as a museum-church; check the Opera di Santa Croce site for current hours and the standard admission, which also covers the cloisters, the Pazzi Chapel, and the Cimabue Crucifix in the refectory. The crucifix was famously damaged in the 1966 Arno flood and has been displayed since restoration. Modest dress is required. The piazza outside hosts the Calcio Storico Fiorentino each June, a sixteenth-century football tournament played in period costume. Mornings are quieter; the late-afternoon light through the rose window is the reason painters have come for centuries.

— where
Italy · Florence, Tuscany
— position
43.7686° N · 11.2624° 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
Piazza Santa Croce
piazza
at the lake
Pazzi Chapel
Brunelleschi chapel
1 km W
Duomo of Florence
cathedral
1 km W
Uffizi Gallery
art museum
N
Basilica of Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce
Pazzi Chapel
Duomo of Florence
Uffizi Gallery
— common questions

What people ask.

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

It is the largest Franciscan church in the world and the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini. For that reason it is sometimes called the Pantheon of the Italian Glories.

Construction began in 1294, traditionally attributed to Arnolfo di Cambio. The marble Neo-Gothic facade was added much later, in 1863, by Niccolò Matas.

No. There is a nineteenth-century cenotaph for Dante along the south aisle, but his remains are still in Ravenna, where he died in exile in 1321. Florence has long asked for them back.

Most famously Cimabue's painted Crucifix in the refectory, which lost much of its paint surface. It was restored over decades and is now displayed in the museum off the first cloister.

Yes. It remains a Franciscan parish and holds regular Mass, alongside its role as a museum-church. Modest dress is required and silence is asked of visitors during services.

Filippo Brunelleschi, in the mid-fifteenth century. The small chapel off the first cloister is one of the calm landmark works of early Renaissance architecture, simple in plan and clean in proportion.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Santa Croce is one of the buildings Florentines carry as their own city, more so than the more-photographed Duomo. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio carries well.

The Neo-Gothic facade and quiet stone palette sit naturally with European traditional, warm Italianate, and Old-World maximalist interiors. It pairs with walnut, leather, and aged brass.

Yes. The slow return to ornament, stone, and dark wood in living rooms makes a piece like this read as anchor art rather than scene art. It carries the room.

Above a standard sofa, a single Large or a 4-tile Mural works. For a long console or formal entry wall, a 9-tile Mural gives the facade the room it asks for.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to humidity, so the tile can hang in a powder room or near a stove.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No solvents, no abrasives. The colour lives in the ceramic surface, so light wiping is all the piece will ever need.

Yes. The Voynich stained-glass and alcohol-ink language is the studio's own. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender and finished in-house.

— 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