The Getty Villa Experience

On Saturday morning, my family and I went to The Getty Villa Museum. Believe

it or not , the tickets were free. We just had to make reservations in advance in order to

get in. Of course the parking was not free, they charge fifteen dollars but it was worth the

experience. The Getty Villa serves a time portal for those who want to explore the ancient

Mediterranean empires of the Greeks, Etruscans, and Romans. In the main entrance of

The Getty Villa , you suddenly get the vibe of how it was in Roman and I couldn’t be

more impressed of the structures and how green it was.

Located just off the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, the Getty Villa is

a historical retreat into time. The driveway leading up to the building is entirely made of

stones, just like the actual Roman roads that were built in the streets of Pompeil and

Herculaneum. Among the first things you will notice upon entering the museum is the

amphitheater, which is right outside the entrance to the museum. Once you go inside the

museum you enter the main public room of the roman house called Atrium. In the atrium

there you will see in the center of the room a small pool which is called a impluvium,

which was not used for swimming but was used to catch rainwater instead. The ceiling,

which was called the compluvium is open for the purpose of light and air.

The rooms in the villa are exhibits that house over 1,200 Greek, Etruscan, and the

Roman antiquities. The first floor exhibits are the Greek and Etruscan terracotta and

marble vessels, glass antiques, gods and goddess, mythological heroes, monster and

minor deities, stories of the Trojan War. Also on the first floor is the family forum, in

which Ancient art comes alive through hands on discovery. The second floor houses

were most of the roman antiquities such as funerary and animal forum took place. There

was a room on the first floor where it was covered in marble and its known as a basilica.

The ceiling had marble and even the statues in that particular room only had marble and it

was beautiful. There was also a carved statue of Aphrodite the Venus to the romans that

was made of marble and pigment. She was the first statue to be naked and produced as art

that way for the Greek.

There were displays of objects in each room that each represented something.

There were silver bowls used for drinking wine, and are decorated in a blend of

Achaemenid, Greek, and Parthian styles. Inscriptions in Aramaic, a language spoken in

the region of Parthia, note the weights of some of them, suggesting that the amount of

metal used to make the vessels was as important as the beauty of their design. Also, there

were drinking vessels that were made of metals such as silver and gold that were often

made as pairs and used at symposia which are male parties. It was considered unseemly

to drink alone, and hosts wanted fine cups to offer their guests. Metals were offered as

gifts to the gods at sanctuaries and were displayed in homes as a sign of status and

wealth. Some ancient customs are still followed today.

The Getty Villa also had a stand where guests can make their