Wender·Vista
Catania
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
on Sicily's east coast, at the foot of Etna

Catania

— — a city built from the lava.

— 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

“Sicily's second city, on the Ionian coast under Mount Etna. After the 1693 earthquake levelled the old town, the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini led a Baroque rebuild in dark volcanic stone. The Piazza del Duomo holds u Liotru, the basalt elephant the city took as its emblem. The fish market opens before dawn behind the cathedral.

from the studio
Catania
— bring it home

Catania, 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 Catania

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

Catania sits on the eastern coast of Sicily, on a coastal plain at the foot of Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in continental Europe at roughly 3,357 metres. The historic centre was rebuilt in late Baroque after the 1693 Val di Noto earthquake destroyed it; the architect Giovanni Battista Vaccarini led the work through the early eighteenth century, using the dark basalt the volcano had already given the land. UNESCO inscribed the centre in 2002 as one of the Late Baroque Towns of Val di Noto.

— informed by Wikipedia, UNESCO
— the stone

Catania is built in two colours: the black of Etna's basalt and the warm cream of Syracusan limestone. Vaccarini set the contrast deliberately, pairing dark base courses with carved pale upper storeys across the Piazza del Duomo. The Fontana dell'Elefante in the centre of the square is a single block of Roman-era basalt, the elephant the locals call u Liotru, set in 1736 with an Egyptian obelisk on its back. Much of the surrounding pavement is laid in the same volcanic stone, polished by three centuries of footsteps.

— the year

The city revolves around the Festa di Sant'Agata, the February festival for the patron saint that locals say is the largest religious procession in Europe after Holy Week in Seville. From the third through the fifth of February, white-tunicked devotees draw the silver fercolo of Saint Agatha through the streets across two nights without sleep. The route covers roughly fifteen kilometres. The city closes around the procession, candles burn in every window of the old centre, and the bars on Via Etnea stay open until dawn.

— where
Italy · Catania, Sicily
— elevation
7 m · 23 ft
— position
37.5079° N · 15.0830° 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.
30 km N
Mount Etna
active volcano
50 km N
Taormina
clifftop town
65 km S
Syracuse
ancient city
17 km N
Acireale
coastal town
N
Catania
Mount Etna
Taormina
Syracuse
Acireale
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Catania sits on the eastern coast of Sicily, on the Ionian Sea, at the foot of Mount Etna. It is the second-largest city on the island after Palermo, with a metropolitan population near one million.

The historic centre is built largely from basalt, the dark volcanic stone Mount Etna has supplied for millennia. After the 1693 earthquake, the rebuilders quarried the lava flows directly and paired the dark stone with pale limestone trim.

The Val di Noto earthquake on January 11, 1693 destroyed most of southeastern Sicily, killing tens of thousands and levelling Catania almost entirely. The reconstruction that followed produced the late-Baroque centre now listed by UNESCO.

U Liotru is the basalt elephant in the Fontana dell'Elefante on the Piazza del Duomo, of Roman origin and the symbol of the city. Vaccarini set it on the fountain in 1736 with an Egyptian obelisk on its back.

The Festa di Sant'Agata runs from February 3 through 5 each year, honouring the city's patron saint. The procession of the silver fercolo across two nights is one of the largest religious festivals in the Catholic world.

Yes. Catania was inscribed in 2002 as one of eight Late Baroque Towns of the Val di Noto, recognised for the coherent Baroque reconstruction that followed the 1693 earthquake.

— about the piece in your home

It carries well for that customer. Catania is many Sicilian-Americans' ancestral city, and the elephant fountain is the family-photograph backdrop. A Medium in a kitchen or hallway holds that connection quietly.

The black basalt and warm Sicilian creams in the artwork settle into Mediterranean, Modern Traditional, and Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms. It also pairs well above a dark wood console or sideboard.

A single Large suits most sofas. A four-tile Mural carries the cathedral square across a wider wall. A nine-tile Mural makes a strong statement above a long console or a stair landing.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour is held inside the ceramic surface, so steam and splashes do not affect it. Reserve Glossy for dry walls away from direct water.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water handles everyday dust and fingerprints. No abrasive sponges, no ammonia. For stubborn marks, a drop of mild dish soap on the cloth is enough.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is Reid Wender's interpretation of the place, drawn in the studio's stained-glass and alcohol-ink visual language. We are an independent family studio with no third-party licensing.

— 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