Wender·Vista
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileItaly
on the Forum Boarium, across the Tiber from Trastevere

Santa Maria in Cosmedin

— — the porch with the marble mouth that bites liars.

— 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 medieval basilica on the Forum Boarium, where the cattle market of the old republic met the river bend. The seven-storey Romanesque campanile is the tallest of its kind in Rome, and the portico still holds the Bocca della Verita, the marble disc that Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn made famous in Roman Holiday. The Cosmati floor inside is one of the finest in the city. — from the studio

from the studio
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
— bring it home

Santa Maria in Cosmedin, 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 in Cosmedin

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 in Cosmedin stands on the Piazza della Bocca della Verita in Rome's Ripa rione, on the site of the ancient Forum Boarium between the Palatine Hill and a bend in the Tiber. A diaconia founded here in the 6th century absorbed parts of the Roman Statio Annonae grain-distribution hall; Pope Hadrian I rebuilt it around 782 for the Greek community that gave the church the name Cosmedin, from kosmidion, meaning ornate. Pope Gelasius II reconsecrated it after restoration in 1118.

— the stone

The seven-storey brick campanile, raised in the early 12th century, is the tallest medieval bell-tower in Rome at about 34 metres. Inside, the nave holds a Cosmati pavement of inlaid coloured marble laid by the same Roman marble-workers' families that floored San Clemente and Santa Maria Maggiore. The schola cantorum, the bishop's throne, and the paschal candlestick are all 12th-century Cosmati work; the crypt beneath the apse was hollowed into the surviving travertine of an earlier altar to Hercules Invictus.

— the visit

The portico holds the Bocca della Verita, a marble disc roughly 1.75 metres across and probably a 1st-century Roman drain cover or fountain mouth, reused as a wall ornament here from the 17th century. The legend that the mouth bites the hands of liars became famous after the 1953 film Roman Holiday, and the queue for the photograph wraps along the portico most afternoons. The church is open daily, run by the Melkite Greek Catholic community of Rome; entry is free.

— where
Italy · Rome, Lazio
— elevation
14 m · 46 ft
— position
41.8883° N · 12.4818° 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
Temple of Hercules Victor
Roman temple
at the lake
Temple of Portunus
Roman temple
1 km E
Circus Maximus
Roman stadium
1 km W
Trastevere
Roman rione
N
Santa Maria in Cosmedin
Temple of Hercules Victor
Temple of Portunus
Circus Maximus
Trastevere
— common questions

What people ask.

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

In the Ripa rione of Rome, on the Piazza della Bocca della Verita, between the Palatine Hill and a bend in the Tiber. The site sits on the ancient Forum Boarium, the cattle market of the Roman Republic.

A diaconia stood here from the 6th century. Pope Hadrian I rebuilt the church around 782 for the Greek community in Rome, and Pope Gelasius II reconsecrated it after restoration in 1118.

From the Greek kosmidion, meaning ornate or decorated. The name was given by the Byzantine Greek community that received the rebuilt church from Pope Hadrian I in the late 8th century.

A marble disc about 1.75 metres across, set in the portico of the church. Probably a 1st-century Roman drain cover or fountain mouth, reused here from the 17th century. Legend says the mouth bites the hands of liars.

About 34 metres. The seven-storey Romanesque brick campanile was raised in the early 12th century and is the tallest medieval bell-tower in Rome.

The Melkite Greek Catholic community of Rome holds Santa Maria in Cosmedin as its national church in the city. Entry is free; services follow the Byzantine rite.

— about the piece in your home

It has been a meaningful gift for travellers who walked the Aventine side of the Tiber, and for fans of Roman Holiday. A Coaster or Small with a short note from the studio carries well on a desk or console.

Stone-walled studies, neutral Tuscan rooms, and walls built around terracotta, travertine, and warm linen. The piece reads well in Italian-modern, Old-World, and quiet Maximalist rooms.

Yes. Curated Roman-walk walls around a few specific churches, rather than the standard Colosseum print, have been gaining ground. A Medium above a console or a Large in a stairwell anchors the wall.

A single Large reads from across the room. Above a wide sectional, a four-tile Mural carries the bell-tower and portico together; for a dedicated wall, the nine-tile Mural is the right call.

Yes. Order in Dura Satin for a soft scratch-resistant sheen or Matte for no sheen at all. Both finishes hold up in humid rooms and wipe clean with a damp microfibre.

Yes. Every WenderVista tile is painted in the studio's house visual language and hand-finished in Knoxville, Tennessee. No outside licensing, no third-party prints — one studio, one eye.

— 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