Last week I featured the gardens of the Getty Villa and this week we'll peek inside a few of the galleries. The photo above shows a statue of the musician Orpheus with two sirens standing behind him.
The Temple Herakles Galley houses J. Paul Getty's most prized possession the Lansdowne Herakles, the Greek Hero who carries a club and a lion's skin. The statue is named for Lord Lansdowne who once owned the statue and had it on display in his London home.
I thought the floor in this room was extremely attractive and just a tiny bit dizzying. It's composed of triangles of Numidian yellow and dark gray marble.
Another beautiful room is this one pictured above with various statues of Greek and Roman women. The statue at the end in the place of honor dates back to AD 200 to 250 and depicts Hygiene - Aphrodite. The statue seems to combine the two goddesses showing Hygiene who represents health, holding an egg and carrying a snake. The other goddess, Aphrodite is depicted in the hair style with her son Cupid at her feet.
I thought the tops of the columns in this room were especially attractive decorated with flowers and shells.
The gallery showing male statues featured this row of busts with Caligula located in the center position.
This last photo shows a display of one of the things that truly fascinates me, ancient glass vessels. I have a hard time not breaking a wine glass when I wash one so the fact that these pieces all date back to AD 1-100 is simply mind boggling to me. The cup on the left is decorated with grapes and ivy, the tall beaker on the right is decorated in a volute pattern and the glass container in the center is decorated with palmettes.
So that has been a peek inside some of the galleries at the Getty Villa. What an incredible collection of ancient artifacts awaits every visitor to this historic place.
7 comments:
What an amazing collection, priceless!
Amazing details!
I have a soft spot for the glass pieces and for the tops of the columns (decor gips perhaps?)
All of these photos of the treasures are wonderfully presented. I especially like the one of the column.
Fascinating. And I appreciate the time and effort that went into your commentary...it makes each photo so much more meaningful!
Exquisitely beautiful inside!
As the old saying goes, "it's what God could have done if he'd only had the money!" Very nice.
Fine details. I also love that floor . . . when I am being a tourist, I often focus on flooring . . . who knows why?
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