The Getty Villa

It took us almost 2 hours to slog through LA traffic and get to The Getty Villa in Malibu, but it was worth the trip. There certainly isn't as many things to look at in the Villa as there are at the Getty Center, but we're glad we went. The Villa is based on an ancient villa that once existed in the town of Herculaneum and was destroyed in 70AD when Vesuvius erupted. J. Paul Getty wanted to build something so that he could display his many collected antiquities in an environment that would give patrons an idea of what it would have been like to have lived in that time.

Here are some photos from the day:

The main museum building is based on the design of the ancient villa.

The roads leading into the site are modeled after ancient Roman roads which were paved with large stones.

You see a lot of pots, most of which are the same colors, all through the museum depicting different scenes from ancient life.

This hall features one of the most valuable bronze sculptures in the collection.

There's also a tremendous number of ancient marble sculptures. The detail work on these is simply amazing.

Speaking of antiquities, this sculpture of a man playing a harp dates back to a long disappeared culture that existed sometime around 2,500 BC.

This was J. Paul Getty's home which still stands on the property, but is not open to the public.

There's a very large garden area filled with plants and trees that would have been found at the site in Herculaneum.

That's the museum building in back and the reflecting pool in the center of the garden.