Getty Villa

The Getty Villa in Malibu, Los Angeles, is one of the two locations of the J. Paul Getty Museum. The Villa of the Papyri in Herculaneum modeled building now houses the antiquities collection of the museum.

Prehistory

1945 acquired the oil magnate J. Paul Getty, a 26 -acre property, located directly on the Pacific coast in Malibu. In addition to a house he built in 1954, followed by a gallery for his rapidly growing art collection. As this presentation possible because of the growing collection was too tight, he was planning for its own exhibition building.

The building

He left to build on the rear of the property a replica of the Villa of the Papyri at Herculaneum. Since this is not fully excavated, it is a free re-creation, which began well as architectural bonds of other ancient buildings of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae. Even were - compromises, so as to reach by about accessibility for visitors - even with regard to the requirements of a modern museum. The entire villa is also - in contrast to the original - a basement. There is an underground car park.

The Getty Villa was opened in 1974. J. Paul Getty died in 1976 and endowed the museum with a rich inheritance. Since there was resistance against the riparian an extension of the museum at this location was in the 1990s from plans by Richard Meier, a second museum building, " The Getty Center ", further east and inland built off Interstate 405. Subsequently, the Getty Villa has undergone since 1997 a generous renovation and reopened on 28 January 2006.

The Collection

Contrary to the original concept, which showed paintings on the first floor of the villa, exclusively Greek, Etruscan and Roman antiquities are shown throughout the plant now, the art collection, however, is presented today at the Getty Center. The exhibited at the Getty Villa antique collection comprises approximately 44,000 finds. At their most prized objects include the "Young winner ," a life-size Greek bronze statue, and Lansdowne Hercules. With the collection of the U.S. oil billionaire J. Paul Getty tried to gain connection to the cultural practices of the old European elites. To build the collection, so he bought on the antiquities market world objects, mainly objects without provenance evidence derived from illegal excavations. Only a very few of the collected items here can therefore be assigned to a archaeological context.

In addition, at the Getty Villa are special and temporary exhibitions related to the main theme of the museum, showed classical antiquity in the Mediterranean.

Visitor

The museum is equipped with the full range of facilities for visitor services, including museum shop and cafeteria. Admission to the Getty Villa is free. However, tickets must be purchased online before. Thus, the flow of visitors in the system is regulated. It is not possible to move freely on the grounds. Visitors who arrive by private car may go to the ( fee ) parking garage under the Villa. Visitors without their own vehicle will be picked up at the entrance and drove to the villa.

The museum offers daily educational programs for visitors, lectures, guided tours and group-specific training. This also includes the " Family Forum ", a space in which the vase painting of ancient Greece, and illustrates for children.

Next worth knowing

• The Getty Villa today also hosts the program at the University of California, Los Angeles ( UCLA) for archaeological conservation (UCLA / Getty Master 's Program in Archaeological and Ethnographic Conservation ).

• Next to the villa there is a small open-air theater in the style of a Greek theater. Here ancient dramas are listed.