J. Paul Getty built a Roman Villa in Malibu, California based on the Villa dei Papiri, a Roman country house that was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79.
The Outer Peristyle
A large pool framed by symmetrical landscaping is the focal point of the Outer Peristyle. By the pool and throughout the garden are copies of bronze statues and busts which were cast after those found in the Villa dei Papiri. These statues depict athletes, statesmen, philosophers, mythological figures, and animals.
The walls of the porticos are decorated with paintings in the Second Pompeian style, which was fashionable in the first century B.C.
The colors used in the paintings on the walls of the portico match actual ancient paint specimens.
On a wall of the Outer Peristyle a painted fruit-and-flower swag is suspended between two illusionistic Corinthian columns. On the left and right of the two columns the painting creates the illusion of walls of green ashlar blocks separated by red cement.
The small round structure (tholos) depicted on this wall of the portico is based on a similar wall painting from the House of the Labryinth at Pompeii.
Like any opulent Roman home, the Villa is adorned with gardens and fountains. The East Garden contains a replica of a fountain from Pompeii, decorated with mosaics of stone and glass tesserae and seashells.
It also has two marble theatrical masks. The masks are of Herakles (the Roman Hercules), and his cousin Dionysos, the patron god of theater.
Now let's go inside the Villa.
The Villa has a Basilica. In the first century A.D., the Roman architectural historian Vitruvius used the word "basilica" to describe a very large room that would usually have been a public hall, but that was occasionally constructed as part of a private house. Such rooms may have been used as meeting halls or private shrines. Eight white marble columns divide the Basilica into a wide nave with two extremely narrow side aisles. This basic plan was adopted by early Christians for their churches.
The Villa's Basilica has many statues...these are just a few of my favorites.
The Temple of Herakles
A room like this would never have existed in a private Roman home. This room at the Villa was designed just for the Museum to house the Lansdowne Herakles. This life-size statue was found near Hadrian's Villa at Tivoli.
Mosaics
The Romans made mosaics from tesserae, tiny cubes of stone or occasionally other materials, set into a bed of mortar. They used mosaics to cover the floors in wealthy private homes and public buildings.
Mosaic floors crafted in only black and white were favored in Italy in the 100s A.D.
A bust of the gorgon Medusa is the center of this Roman mosaic floor. This spinning shield motif with the gorgon's head as its central point appears frequently on Roman mosaic floors.
Room of Colored Marbles
By the first century A.D., wealthy Romans were using an array of colored marbles to cover floors and walls and to line fountains and pools. Usually imported from distant lands, different stones not only served as decoration, they also demonstrated the power of Rome and the extent of its conquests and illustrated the wealth and power of the owners of elite homes. Marble was used either in large slabs or in small pieces that were combined to create intricate geometric patterns of different colors and shapes.
Frescos
Wall, Ceiling and Floor Decorations
Ceiling decoration in Outer Peristyle
Wall decoration
These mosaic floor patterns from a house in Pompeii were copied in the Villa's Outer Peristyle.
The Villa also contains many statues, jewelry, and other artifacts of Greek, Roman and Etruscan history.
Children (and children at heart), can decorate Greek vases.
They can also perform their own Greek tragedy!
The Getty Villa is a great place to visit to learn more about Roman Villas as well as Greek, Roman and Etruscan art.
