Wender·Vista
Cattedrale di Monreale
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
above Palermo in the hills of Sicily

Cattedrale di Monreale

— — six thousand square metres of gold, set tile by tile.

— 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 Norman cathedral William II raised above Palermo in the twelfth century, lined wall to apse in roughly sixty-five hundred square metres of gold-ground mosaic. Christ Pantocrator fills the apse, and the Old and New Testaments run in registers down the nave. Outside, the cloister rests on two hundred and twenty-eight paired columns, no two carved the same. UNESCO listed the cathedral in 2015.

from the studio
Cattedrale di Monreale
— bring it home

Cattedrale di Monreale, 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 Cattedrale di Monreale

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

Monreale Cathedral, dedicated to Santa Maria Nuova, stands in the town of Monreale on Monte Caputo, about ten kilometres southwest of Palermo. It was commissioned by the Norman king William II of Sicily, begun in 1172 and effectively complete by 1267. UNESCO added it to the World Heritage list in 2015 as part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale serial site, recognising the fusion of Latin, Byzantine and Islamic traditions that defined twelfth-century Sicily under the Norman kings. The town itself grew up around the cathedral and its Benedictine abbey.

— the stone

The interior is lined with roughly sixty-five hundred square metres of gold-ground mosaic, the largest such cycle in Italy and second in Europe only to Hagia Sophia. A colossal Christ Pantocrator fills the apse; below him, registers of biblical narrative run from Creation through the Passion. The adjoining cloister, finished around 1200, is square and bordered by two hundred and twenty-eight paired marble columns. Each pair is carved differently, some plain, some banded, some sheathed in inlaid mosaic, and the capitals are sculpted with Old Testament scenes.

— the visit

The cathedral is open daily for visitors outside of services, with reduced hours on Sunday mornings. Entry to the church itself is free; the cloister, the treasury and the roof terraces are ticketed separately, and a combined ticket is the simplest option. The terrace climb gives a long view back across the Conca d'Oro to Palermo and the Tyrrhenian Sea. AMAT bus 389 runs from Palermo's Piazza Indipendenza to Monreale roughly every hour and takes about thirty-five minutes. Most visitors allow two hours on site.

— where
Italy · Monreale, Metropolitan City of Palermo
— elevation
310 m · 1,017 ft
— position
38.0817° N · 13.2917° 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.
10 km NE
Palermo
city
5 km E
Conca d'Oro
coastal plain
70 km E
Cefalù Cathedral
Norman cathedral
15 km N
Monte Pellegrino
mountain headland
10 km NE
San Giovanni degli Eremiti
Norman church
N
Cattedrale di Monreale
Palermo
Conca d'Oro
Cefalù Cathedral
Monte Pellegrino
San Giovanni degli Eremiti
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Cattedrale di Monreale — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

William II of Sicily, the Norman king, commissioned the cathedral in 1172. Construction was effectively complete by 1267, with the gold-ground mosaic cycle finished within a few decades of the founding.

The interior carries roughly sixty-five hundred square metres of mosaic on a gold ground, the largest cycle in Italy and second in Europe only to that of Hagia Sophia in Istanbul.

In the town of Monreale, on Monte Caputo, about ten kilometres southwest of Palermo on the Sicilian coast. The cathedral sits at the top of the historic centre.

Yes. It was inscribed in 2015 as part of the Arab-Norman Palermo and the Cathedral Churches of Cefalù and Monreale serial property, recognised for its fusion of Latin, Byzantine and Islamic traditions.

A square Benedictine cloister finished around 1200, bordered by two hundred and twenty-eight paired marble columns. No two pairs are carved the same; capitals depict Old Testament scenes and grotesques.

Yes. The terrace climb is ticketed separately from the church and opens a long view back across the Conca d'Oro plain to Palermo and the Tyrrhenian Sea.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. Monreale is one of the defining monuments of Norman Sicily and is widely recognised across the Italian and Sicilian-American diaspora. A Medium or Large carries the gold interior well.

Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms, traditional European interiors and warm-Minimalist spaces that lean on gilt accents. The gold-ground palette reads well against deep green, oxblood or wine walls.

Above a sofa, a single Large or a four-tile Mural. Above a console, a Medium reads as a single icon panel. A nine-tile Mural carries an apse-scale impression across a full wall.

Yes, in the Dura Satin or Matte finish. The colour lives in the surface, so steam, soap and cooking heat do not affect it. Wipe with a damp microfibre cloth.

A soft microfibre cloth with water. The glossy finish takes a light pass; Dura Satin and Matte are slightly more forgiving with everyday dust and fingerprints.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's own visual language by Reid Wender, the curator. There is no licensing and no third-party imagery.

Often, yes. Couples married in Palermo or Monreale frequently choose a Medium or Large of the cathedral as an anniversary piece, and a Coaster Set travels well as a wedding card insert.

— 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