The Getty Villa, an invitation to Roman life

 The Getty Villa in Malibu, California is more than a museum. The premises offer a priceless insight in daily life as it was during the 1^st century AD in the Roman Empire.

The Villa is a reconstruction of the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum and the truthful recreation of what once was. Whereas most people may expect some kind of Disneyland recreation, the Getty Villa is as close to reality as can be. Instead of imagining what such a house would look like while strolling through the streets of Herculaneum or Pompeii, Paul Getty has done the work for us. For those who ever were in Athens, it can be compared to the careful reconstruction of the Stoa of Attalus.

This means that, although most visitors will rush to the entrails of the Villa to have a close look at the superb collection of antiquities, it is worth to spend time looking at the building itself.

I already gave a detailed description of the Villa in my earlier blog, The renovated Getty Villa in Malibu, California.

It so happened that the Getty Villa posted this revealing video, which interestingly entirely matches my own impressions.

The 1,200 antiquities on display at the Villa are all of extremely high quality and often tell a story of their own. Given the total of approximately 44,000 such artifacts to choose from, you’ll find something new to discover each time you visit the Getty Villa.

We should keep in mind that the layout of a Roman villa is a mere copy of what Alexander experienced back home in Macedonia a few centuries earlier. Enough impressions to dream away!