Wender·Vista
Lupercal
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
beneath the Palatine in Rome

Lupercal

— — a cave older than the city it began.

— 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

“A cave under the Palatine where the founding story of Rome begins. Shepherds named it for the wolf. Augustus rebuilt his house above it. In 2007 archaeologists peered through sixteen metres of rock and found a vault crusted with shells and coloured marble, untouched for two thousand years. The site is sealed; the story is not.

from the studio
Lupercal
— bring it home

Lupercal, 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 Lupercal

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 Lupercal sits beneath the south-west corner of the Palatine Hill, the central of Rome's seven hills, inside the archaeological zone of the Foro Romano. Antiquarians long located it near the Casa di Augusto, the emperor's modest residence built around 36 BC. In January 2007 a team led by Irene Iacopi probed through roughly sixteen metres of rubble with an endoscopic camera and found a vaulted chamber about seven and a half metres tall, finished in shells, polychrome marble, and a white eagle at the apex.

— the year

Every February 15 the Romans observed the Lupercalia, one of the oldest festivals in the city. Priests called Luperci sacrificed two goats and a dog at the cave, then ran half-naked around the base of the Palatine striking bystanders with strips of the hide for fertility. The rite survived into Christian Rome until Pope Gelasius I suppressed it around AD 494. Plutarch and Ovid both wrote about it; Mark Antony's Lupercalia run in 44 BC is the one Shakespeare keeps in the second act of Julius Caesar.

— the stone

The decorated chamber sits inside the tufa bedrock of the Palatine, the soft volcanic rock that built early Rome. The vault Iacopi's team imaged is finished in white stucco, polychrome marble, and a mosaic of seashells gathered along the Tyrrhenian coast. A white marble eagle, the symbol of Augustus, occupies the apex. Whether this exact chamber is the original Lupercal or a Julio-Claudian nymphaeum built over it remains argued among archaeologists; the cult site, in any case, lies inside the hill.

— where
Italy · Rome, Lazio
— within
Parco Archeologico del Colosseo
— position
41.8893° N · 12.4869° 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
Casa di Augusto
imperial house
1 km NE
Roman Forum
archaeological site
1 km E
Colosseum
Roman amphitheatre
1 km S
Circus Maximus
Roman stadium
N
Lupercal
Casa di Augusto
Roman Forum
Colosseum
Circus Maximus
— common questions

What people ask.

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

At the south-west foot of the Palatine Hill in Rome, beneath the Casa di Augusto. The site lies inside the archaeological park of the Foro Romano and Palatino and is closed to visitors.

The cave where a she-wolf was said to have nursed Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars and Rhea Silvia. Shepherds found them there; from one of those twins Rome took its name.

In January 2007 a team led by archaeologist Irene Iacopi reached the vault with an endoscopic camera, sixteen metres below the surface, while working on the structural stabilisation of Augustus's house above.

Held each February 15, the rite began at the cave with the sacrifice of two goats and a dog. Priests called Luperci then ran the base of the Palatine, striking bystanders for fertility.

No. The chamber is structurally fragile and remains sealed for conservation. The Casa di Augusto directly above is open by reservation through the Parco Archeologico del Colosseo.

Archaeologists are divided. Some identify it as the ancient shrine; others read it as a Julio-Claudian nymphaeum built over or near the original. The cult site itself lies inside the hill.

— about the piece in your home

The Lupercal is one of the few founding-myth sites every Roman knew by sight. A Small or Medium tile carries the iconography without needing the reader to be a specialist. We include a short studio card.

The deep earth-and-shell palette reads well in Old-World Italian, library-warm Maximalist, and quiet Stone-and-plaster Mediterranean rooms. It tends to anchor a wall rather than disappear into one.

Yes. The return of Roman, Greek, and Etruscan reference points in interiors has put founding-myth imagery back on walls. The Lupercal sits inside that movement without being literal.

A single Large reads well above a console. Over a standard sofa we recommend a 4-tile Mural; over a long sectional, the 9-tile Mural carries the wall.

Yes, in our Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and stand up to steam and splash. The Glossy finish stays in dry rooms.

A soft microfibre cloth and clean water. No abrasive pads, no ammonia or citrus cleaners. The colour lives in the surface, so a clean wipe is all it needs.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in the studio's own visual language and finished in-house. We don't license or resell other artists' work.

— 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