Wender·Vista
Fitzwilliam Museum
shown on ceramic, 12-inch tileUnited Kingdom
on Trumpington Street, a short walk south of King's College

Fitzwilliam Museum

— — the small museum that owns a real Titian.

— 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

“The art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, founded on a 1816 bequest from Viscount Fitzwilliam of more than a hundred paintings, his library, and the cash to house them. The Greek Revival building opened in 1848 on Trumpington Street and is fronted by a pair of stone lions and a deep portico. Inside are works by Titian, Veronese, Rubens, Rembrandt, Gainsborough, Turner, Constable, and Monet, plus Egyptian coffins and Greek vases. Free to enter, closed Mondays. — from the studio

from the studio
Fitzwilliam Museum
— bring it home

Fitzwilliam Museum, 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 Fitzwilliam Museum

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 Fitzwilliam Museum is the principal art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, sited on Trumpington Street about three hundred metres south of the King's College gate. It was founded by the bequest of Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam, who died in 1816 leaving the university his art collection, his library, and £100,000 to build a home for them. The Greek Revival building was designed by George Basevi, continued by C. R. Cockerell after Basevi's death in 1845, and opened to the public in 1848. The museum holds roughly half a million works and is free to enter.

— the stone

The facade is a Greek Revival portico of eight Corinthian columns rising out of a deep flight of steps, topped by a sculpted pediment of figures from Homer and the Aeneid. The walls are warm Portland stone and the building is grade I listed. Inside, the entrance hall is polychrome marble laid in patterns by Cockerell, with a coffered dome and red porphyry columns. The galleries beyond are arranged enfilade, the long sight-line from the entrance running directly through the Italian rooms to a Veronese at the far end of the wing.

— the visit

The Fitzwilliam is open Tuesday through Sunday, roughly 10:00 to 17:00, and closed on Mondays and a short list of public holidays. Entry is free for the permanent collection and most special exhibitions, with a suggested donation at the door. The museum sits a six-minute walk from Cambridge market square and ten minutes from the railway station. Highlights to seek out are Titian's 'Venus and Cupid with a Lute Player', Rubens's 'Death of Hippolytus', Monet's 'Poplars', and the Egyptian inner coffin of Nespawershefyt from about 1000 BCE.

— where
United Kingdom · Cambridge, Cambridgeshire
— position
52.1998° N · 0.1197° 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.
1 km N
King's College Chapel
college chapel
1 km NE
Pembroke College
Cambridge college
1 km NW
Mathematical Bridge
wooden footbridge
1 km N
Cambridge Market Square
market square
N
Fitzwilliam Museum
King's College Chapel
Pembroke College
Mathematical Bridge
Cambridge Market Square
— common questions

What people ask.

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

The principal art and antiquities museum of the University of Cambridge, on Trumpington Street. It holds about half a million works including paintings by Titian, Rubens, Monet, and Turner, alongside Egyptian, Greek, and Roman antiquities.

Richard FitzWilliam, 7th Viscount FitzWilliam, who died in 1816 and bequeathed his art collection, his library, and £100,000 to the University of Cambridge to build a public museum to house them.

The Greek Revival building on Trumpington Street, designed by George Basevi and completed by C. R. Cockerell, opened to the public in 1848. A founder's collection had been on display in temporary rooms before that.

Yes. Entry to the permanent collection and most special exhibitions is free, with a suggested donation. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday and closed on Mondays.

On Trumpington Street in central Cambridge, about three hundred metres south of King's College and a ten-minute walk from Cambridge railway station.

Titian's 'Venus and Cupid with a Lute Player', Rubens's 'Death of Hippolytus', Monet's 'Poplars', a notable Constable, the Hours of Isabella Stuart, and the Egyptian inner coffin of Nespawershefyt from about 1000 BCE.

— about the piece in your home

Yes. The Fitzwilliam is part of how Cambridge people see their city, alongside King's Chapel and the river. For an alum, a former resident, or a museum member, the piece reads as the home museum. A Small or Medium carries well.

The portico and warm stone tones settle into Traditional English interiors, into Library-modern rooms with deep painted walls, and into a Maximalist scheme where the architecture anchors a busier wall.

Yes. The current return to layered English Traditional and Dark Academia interiors both reach for classical architecture, and a named Cambridge museum lands more credibly than a generic colonnade.

A single Large fills the wall behind a standard sofa. A four-tile Mural carries the full portico and pediment well, and a nine-tile Mural reads above a long console or dining sideboard.

Yes, with the Dura Satin or Matte finish. Both are scratch-resistant and handle steam and splash well, which suits a powder room, a kitchen backsplash, or a shower surround.

A soft microfibre cloth with plain water. In a wet room or busy kitchen, an occasional pass with a mild non-abrasive cleaner keeps the surface clear without dulling the colour.

Yes. Every WenderVista piece is original work from a single studio in Knoxville, Tennessee. There is no licensing and no third-party imagery. Reid Wender curates the atlas himself.

— if this one stayed with you

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