Getty Villa

When oil man J Paul Getty's art collection outgrew his home, he commissioned a villa built to house the collection.  He modeled it after a first century Roman country house, the Villa dei Papyri in Herculaneum, Italy, which was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D.  Villa dei Papyri is believed to have been owned by Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who was Julius Ceasar's Father-In-Law, and is so named because of the huge library of papyrus scrolls that was buried inside it. Those scrolls were carbonized by the heat and ash, but with scientific advances some parts of them are now becoming readable.  Architectural and landscaping details of the Getty Villa and the gardens are modeled after the Villa dei Papyri whenever possible.  When details of the original villa are unknown the Getty Villa is as consistent as possible with ancient Roman times.  The Getty Villa now houses J Paul Getty's extensive antiquities collection and is open to the public free of charge.  When we first decided to see the Getty Villa, we were planning to visit Italy within a year.  Italy has since been dropped from our travel plans to focus more on Northern Europe... but the reservations for the Villa were already made and we are still both interested in that part of history.

We found it an interesting counterpoint to explore early Roman culture and architecture at the Getty Villa so soon after exploring early Puebloan ruins and learning so much about early cultures from our own country.  Here are some pictures from our day at the Getty Villa...

Looking into the courtyard that was the main living area of the Villa.

This is the actual size of the outer courtyard of the Villa, which contained a 300 foot long pool, lush gardens, statuary, and exquisite marble everywhere. 

Statuary in the Getty Villa gardens is reproductions of works found in the Villa dei Papyri

This fountain is in the East garden, where the ladies of the household spent most of their time.

A section of marble floor

Although we were told this statue originally held some sort of implement, we believe she was actually the bass guitarist  in Herculaneum's hottest girl band. 

Nice backyard, eh?

We expected the Getty Villa to occupy only a portion of the day, and had planned to visit the larger Getty Art Museum as well. But this was so fascinating that we spent the entire day wandering through this beautiful villa and the collection of art inside.

We have cancelled our reservation at Sequoia/Kings Canyon National Parks.  Highs were predicted to be in the low 20's the days we were planning to be there.  Yes, Highs.  We are talking Fahrenheit.  Maybe snow too.  Didn't sound fun.  So we are headed on home.  It has been a wonderful and interesting trip!