Wender·Vista
Sant'Agnese in Agone
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
on Piazza Navona, in central Rome

Sant'Agnese in Agone

— — a façade that bends to make room for a fountain.

— 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 Baroque church on the long oval of Piazza Navona, raised by the Pamphilj family pope on the spot where, by tradition, a thirteen-year-old girl was killed for refusing to marry. The concave façade is Borromini's; the dome behind it sits where the chariots once turned. Bernini's river-gods watch from the fountain across the square.

from the studio
Sant'Agnese in Agone
— bring it home

Sant'Agnese in Agone, 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 Sant'Agnese in Agone

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

Sant'Agnese in Agone stands on the western flank of Piazza Navona in Rome's Parione district, on the site traditionally identified as the place of the martyrdom of Saint Agnes around the year 304. The piazza itself is the long oval of the Stadium of Domitian, completed in 86 AD; the surviving late-Latin name Circus Agonalis is the root of in Agone. Construction of the present church began in 1652 under Pope Innocent X of the Pamphilj family, whose palace adjoins the church on the south side of the square.

— the stone

The Rainaldi family — Girolamo and his son Carlo — drew the first plan in 1652. In 1653 the commission passed to Francesco Borromini, who reworked the façade into the concave curve that pulls back to give the dome room to read from the square. Borromini left the project in 1657 after disputes with the Pamphilj; the Rainaldi returned and finished the work by 1672. The twin bell towers, the lantern of the dome, and the inset niches of the façade are all from Borromini's redesign.

— the visit

The church faces Bernini's Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi, completed in 1651 — a year before construction on Sant'Agnese began. The arrangement is famously read by Roman tourist guides as the river-gods recoiling from Borromini's façade, a story without documentary basis but too good to die. Inside, a relic of Saint Agnes is kept in a side chapel; the cycle of high marble reliefs above the altars depicts her life and martyrdom. Entry is free; the church is normally open in the afternoon, with shorter hours around Sunday Mass.

— where
Italy · Rome, Lazio
— position
41.8989° N · 12.4731° 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
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
Bernini fountain
at the lake
Palazzo Pamphilj
Baroque palace
1 km E
Pantheon
Roman temple
1 km S
Campo de' Fiori
market square
N
Sant'Agnese in Agone
Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi
Palazzo Pamphilj
Pantheon
Campo de' Fiori
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Sant'Agnese in Agone — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

The name comes from Circus Agonalis, the late-Latin name for the Stadium of Domitian, whose long oval is the shape of Piazza Navona today. In Agone means in the place of athletic contests.

The Rainaldi family began the church in 1652; Francesco Borromini redesigned the façade and dome from 1653 to 1657; the Rainaldi returned to finish the work by 1672. Borromini's façade is what defines the building today.

A young Roman Christian martyred around 304 under the persecution of Diocletian, by tradition at the age of thirteen, for refusing a forced marriage. Her name became attached to lambs through the Latin pun agnus.

The Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi was completed in 1651, a year before Sant'Agnese began. The popular story that the river-gods are recoiling from Borromini's façade is later Roman folklore, not historical fact.

Pope Innocent X, born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj, whose family palace sits next door on the south side of Piazza Navona. The church served as the Pamphilj family chapel.

Yes. Entry is free. Opening hours are typically afternoons, with shorter Sunday hours around Mass. The relic of Saint Agnes is kept in a side chapel to the left of the entrance.

— about the piece in your home

It travels well to readers of Roman Baroque, lovers of Piazza Navona, and anyone whose Roman geography centres on the Pamphilj-Borromini-Bernini triangle. A Small with a handwritten note carries well.

The deep palette and stained-glass figure read in Old-World Library, Italianate-Modern, and Jewel-tone Maximalist rooms. It also anchors a small chapel-corner of devotional images.

The move toward Italianate-modern and quiet-maximalist rooms, with plaster walls and deep saturated art, has carried into 2026. A Baroque façade reads as collected rather than purchased.

A single Large reads well above a console. Above a full sofa, a four-tile Mural carries the wall; a nine-tile Mural is for a great-room or stairwell that needs to hold a long sightline.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish, which are scratch-resistant and built to take splash. The Glossy finish is intended for dry display only.

A microfibre cloth and water. No abrasives, no ammonia-based glass cleaner. The colour lives in the ceramic surface and will not lift with normal cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is curated by Reid Wender in our Knoxville studio. We do not licence the artwork or sell it through third-party print houses.

— 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