Wender·Vista
Prato
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
in Tuscany, just northwest of Florence

Prato

— a working city the Renaissance never stopped using.

— 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 Tuscan city most travellers skip on the train to Florence. Prato has been weaving wool since the twelfth century and still does, the looms now run by a generation that grew up between Italian and Wenzhou Chinese. The Duomo holds a relic of Mary's girdle; Donatello carved the outdoor pulpit. The Bisenzio runs through it. Quieter than Florence on a Sunday afternoon.

from the studio
Prato
— bring it home

Prato, 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 Prato

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

Prato sits in central Tuscany along the Bisenzio river, about seventeen kilometres northwest of Florence. With roughly 195,000 residents it is the second-largest city in Tuscany and the third-largest in central Italy. The historic centre is ringed by intact medieval walls and centred on the Piazza del Duomo, where the cathedral of Santo Stefano holds Donatello's outdoor pulpit. Long a textile capital, the city now hosts one of the largest Chinese communities in Europe, a generation deep into the wool trade.

— informed by Wikipedia: Prato
— the stone

The Castello dell'Imperatore was built between 1237 and 1248 by order of Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, the only Swabian-Norman castle north of the old Cassia road. Its white-stone square plan and eight square towers face the Romanesque church of Santa Maria delle Carceri across the piazza, Giuliano da Sangallo's late-fifteenth-century work in green and white marble. The castle's parapets are open to walk; the view runs from the Duomo's striped facade to the Apennine foothills closing the city to the north.

— the year

Five times a year, on Easter, May 1, August 15, September 8, and Christmas, the Bishop of Prato climbs to the outdoor pulpit of the Duomo and shows the Sacra Cintola, the wool-and-thread girdle the city has held since 1141. Donatello and Michelozzo built the pulpit specifically for this rite, finishing in 1438. The relief panels of dancing children are now in the Museo dell'Opera; the pulpit on the corner of the cathedral is a copy. The crowd in the piazza is mostly local.

— informed by Wikipedia: Sacra Cintola
— where
Italy · Prato, Tuscany
— elevation
65 m · 213 ft
— position
43.8777° N · 11.1023° 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.
17 km SE
Florence
Renaissance city
18 km NW
Pistoia
medieval town
60 km W
Lucca
walled city
N
Prato
Florence
Pistoia
Lucca
— common questions

What people ask.

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

Prato is in central Tuscany, on the Bisenzio river, about seventeen kilometres northwest of Florence. It is the second-largest city in Tuscany, with around 195,000 residents.

Wool and textile manufacturing, continuous since the twelfth century. The city also holds the Sacra Cintola relic in its cathedral and hosts one of the largest Chinese communities in Europe.

The wool-and-thread girdle traditionally venerated as belonging to the Virgin Mary, held in Prato since 1141. The bishop shows it from the cathedral's outdoor pulpit five times each year.

Frederick II of Hohenstaufen, between 1237 and 1248. It is the only Swabian-Norman castle north of the old Cassia road, and its parapets are open to walk today.

Regional trains run from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to Prato Centrale every ten to twenty minutes, with the trip taking about twenty-five minutes door to door.

— about the piece in your home

It has carried well to customers whose families came from the Tuscan textile trade, or who grew up between Prato and Wenzhou. A Small or Medium with a handwritten studio note travels nicely.

The piece holds its own with Tuscan rustic, warm Italian modern, and library jewel-tone interiors. The reds and ochres of the stained-glass treatment read well against plaster walls and dark wood.

Yes. Tuscan colour and texture are central to current warm-minimalist and slow-Italian rooms in shelter magazines, and the piece reads as inherited rather than newly bought.

A single Large carries a standard sofa; for a longer wall a four-tile Mural reads richer, and a nine-tile Mural anchors a full feature wall above a console.

Yes. Order the Dura Satin or Matte finish for any wet or vertical install; both are scratch-resistant and read true under bathroom lighting. The Glossy finish is for dry framed display.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. The colour lives in the ceramic surface beneath a thin protective layer, so it will not lift or fade with ordinary household cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is created in our Knoxville studio under Reid Wender's curation; nothing is licensed in or sourced from a stock library.

— 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