Wender·Vista
Santa Maria della Vittoria
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
in Rome, on the corner of Via XX Settembre

Santa Maria della Vittoria

— the marble that looks like it just took a breath.

— 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 small Baroque church on the corner of Via XX Settembre and Largo Santa Susanna in Rome. The shell is Carlo Maderno's, finished in 1620; the façade is Giovanni Battista Soria's, finished in 1626. Inside, on the left of the apse, the Cornaro Chapel holds Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1647 to 1652, the marble that everyone comes for.

from the studio
Santa Maria della Vittoria
— bring it home

Santa Maria della Vittoria, 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 Santa Maria della Vittoria

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

Santa Maria della Vittoria is a Discalced Carmelite church on the corner of Via XX Settembre and Largo Santa Susanna, opposite the Fontana del Mosè, in the Sallustiano district of central Rome. Carlo Maderno designed the building between 1605 and 1620; Giovanni Battista Soria finished the travertine façade in 1626. The church was originally dedicated to Saint Paul, then re-dedicated to the Virgin in 1622 after the Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain. It is small for a major Baroque pilgrimage church, a single nave with side chapels, which intensifies the effect of the Cornaro Chapel on the left.

— informed by Wikipedia
— the stone

The Cornaro Chapel was Gian Lorenzo Bernini's project from 1647 to 1652, commissioned by Cardinal Federico Cornaro. The Ecstasy of Saint Teresa at its centre is a single group in white Carrara marble showing Teresa of Ávila pierced by an angel's golden arrow, the moment Teresa describes in her own autobiography. Behind it, gilded bronze rays carry hidden window light down onto the marble; on each side, the Cornaro family is sculpted in two theatre boxes, leaning out to watch. Art historians read the chapel as the manifesto of the High Baroque.

— the visit

The church is open daily, typically 8:30 to 12:00 and 15:30 to 18:00, with shorter hours on Sunday and during liturgy. Entry is free; a small coin-operated lamp illuminates the Cornaro Chapel for one minute at a time. The nearest Metro is Repubblica on Line A, three minutes' walk. Photography without flash is permitted; tripods and commercial use require permission. The street outside is busy with traffic and government buildings, and the change between the doorway and the chapel light is the experience the church is built for.

— where
Italy · Rome, Lazio
— position
41.9047° N · 12.4942° 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 del Mosè
Baroque fountain
at the lake
Santa Susanna
Renaissance church
at the lake
Piazza della Repubblica
city square
at the lake
Baths of Diocletian
Roman ruin
N
Santa Maria della Vittoria
Fontana del Mosè
Santa Susanna
Piazza della Repubblica
Baths of Diocletian
— common questions

What people ask.

A few questions we get about Santa Maria della Vittoria — and about bringing the piece home.
— about the place

On the corner of Via XX Settembre and Largo Santa Susanna in central Rome, opposite the Fontana del Mosè. Three minutes' walk from the Repubblica Metro stop on Line A.

For Gian Lorenzo Bernini's Ecstasy of Saint Teresa, 1647 to 1652, in the Cornaro Chapel on the left of the apse. Art historians read it as the defining sculpture of the High Baroque.

Carlo Maderno designed the building between 1605 and 1620 for the Discalced Carmelites. Giovanni Battista Soria finished the travertine façade in 1626. The Cornaro Chapel was added by Bernini from 1647 to 1652.

Teresa of Ávila reclining as an angel pierces her with a golden arrow, the moment Teresa describes in her autobiography as a vision of divine love. Hidden window light falls onto the marble through gilded bronze rays behind.

The church was re-dedicated to the Virgin in 1622 after the Catholic victory at the Battle of White Mountain in 1620. A miraculous image carried at the battle was credited with the win and brought to the church.

Open daily, typically 8:30 to 12:00 and 15:30 to 18:00, with reduced hours on Sunday and during liturgy. Entry is free. A coin-operated lamp illuminates the Cornaro Chapel for one minute at a time.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The church is a touchstone for Carmelite devotion and a landmark for anyone who has stood in the Cornaro Chapel. A Small or Medium with a handwritten note from the studio reads well as a confirmation or ordination gift.

The palette here runs to gilded bronze, oxblood drapery, and white marble. It suits Italianate-modern, jewel-tone maximalist, and traditional rooms with deep paint colours, and plays well against panelled wood.

The warm-gold and oxblood palette aligns with the jewel-tone maximalist direction interior design has moved toward over the past two years. The Large hangs as a single anchor above a sideboard or a reading bench.

A single Large covers most sofas. For a wider wall, a 4-tile Mural reads as one piece across the room; the 9-tile Mural is the over-fireplace scale.

Yes, in Dura Satin or Matte. Both are scratch- and moisture-resistant and tested for showers and backsplashes. Glossy is for framed pieces away from steam.

A soft microfibre cloth and warm water. No ceramic cleaner, no abrasive pad. The colour is infused into the surface, not painted on top, so it does not lift with cleaning.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is painted in-house by Reid Wender and finished in our Knoxville studio. We do not license the work and there is no second source.

— 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