The Getty Villa Museum

The Getty Villa, Malibu, California.

The Getty comprises of two museums, the brand new Getty Museum in Los Angeles and the The Getty Villa in Malibu, both in California. The difference between the two museums is that the The Getty Villa was the former country home of J. Paul Getty, an American oil billionaire and features mainly Getty's collection of the Antiquities and the new Getty Museum in Los Angeles features European and American arts.
During my trip last week to California, we had a chance to visit the The Getty Villa in Malibu. In the Villa, we saw Getty's collection of Greek, Roman and Etruscan collections. The Villa was actually inspired by the Villa del Papyri in Herculaneum. The Villa del Papyri was actually buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Getty's Villa was inspired by the architecture of the Bay of Naples built by the Ancient Romans. The building of the Villa was started in the early 1970s, opened to the public in 1974 and unfortunately, J. Paul Getty never saw the completion of his villa when he died in 1976. It is free of charge to visit but visitors must obtain free timed tickets from their website (link above). This week, I will share my visit of the Museum, the gardens and the Herb Garden. When you get a chance to be in Malibu, drop by and discover this beautiful Villa and gardens.

View of the Pacific Ocean from the Villa.

Entrance to the Museum.

Entrance to the Villa and the Inner Courtyard.

Collection of Greek Antiquities.

God Zeus and Goddess Venus.

More Greek Antiquities.

An Ancient Roman re-enactment for the visitors.

A Golden Ivy Victory wreath awarded during the Ancient Greek Olympics.

An outdoor courtyard in the Villa filled with Orange trees and some Greek Statues.

The Outdoor courtyard and showcase of the Neapolitan Style Villa.

For a complete history, view this Video:

4 comments

Eimear O'Reilly Stylist11 July 2012 at 05:59
love going to museums. i think if i was in california though you wouldn't get me off the beach. thanks for your comment on my blog by the way x

http://supposeishouldblog.blogspot.ie/
Anonymous11 July 2012 at 08:24
I love visiting museums too!!!^^

xoxo
kim at northerncalstyle.12 July 2012 at 01:52
Pam,
Wish I got there on my last trip. Looks so gorgeous and I'd love to see it.
Thanks for the tour and history.

Kim:)
Mr Paul12 July 2012 at 14:18
The gardens look lovely Pamela, so glad you enjoyed your visit to the museum, old JP Getty had a fabulous view from his villa didn't he!
Love the box topiary and citrus courtyard, looks like a great place to take refuge from the sun in summer. Sculpting with living plants I always think is so clever.
We would make our own victory wreaths as a child using long thin leafy wired branches which we would then handpaint gold and then parade them around the garden:)
Paul