Afternoon at the Villa ~ Getty Villa Malibu

Time is the wisest counselor of all.

~Pericles

Inner Peristyle of the Getty Villa

Back on March 30th, I drove to Malibu to meet my sister Penny and her friend Chris, at the Getty Villa. It was a beautiful day to have a little lunch and take a trip back in time! 

Fragment of a Female Head

Greek, made in Taras, South Italy

440-430 B.C.

Terracotta

History of the Getty Villa, which is the same short film (12:22) that you can watch when you enter the Villa!

Wreath

Greek, 300-100 B.C.

Gold

"Gold wreaths were often modeled after the floral wreaths given as prizes in athletic contests. Here the leaves and berries imitate those of the laurel, a tree sacred to Apollo, got of prophecy and music. The wreath's fragility suggests that it was not intended to be worn in life but would have served as a funerary offering or a dedication to a deity." (Although, I would totally rock this wreath during the holidays!)

The Secret of change

is to focus all of your energy,

not on fighting the old,

but on building the new.

~Socrates 

In the area below, at the end of summer, they put on productions of Greek plays! I've been wanting to go for years. I need to get it together this year!

Mask of a Satyr

Greek, made in the eastern Meditteranean,

300-100 B.C.

Terracotta and pigment

And so hail to you, Dionysos, god of abundant grapes!

Grant that we may come again rejoicing to this season 

and from that season onward for many a year.

~Homeric Hymn to Dionysos, about 680 B.C.

Sarcophagus Panel with Medusa and Theater Masks
Roman, A.D. 140-70
Marble

Wall or Ceiling Fragments with a Maenad, 
and Bacchus and Ariadne (above) 
Roman, A.D. 1-75
Plaster and pigment

Lovely Venus/Aphrodite!

Altar with Aphrodite and Adonis
Greek, made in Taras, South Italy
400-375 B.C. 
Terracotta and pigment

Statuette of Venus
Greek or Roman, 100-1 B.C.
Rock Crystal

This little statue is modeled after a large-scale sculpture of Venus crouching to bathe herself, that was made in the Hellenistic Period. That original has not survived but don't you love this crystal version? It was maybe 6 or 7 inches tall, if I remember correctly.

Count each day 

as a separate life.

~Seneca (Roman philosopher circa 4 BCE-65 AD)

They have a little interactive area that is set up for the kids. My sister did this little rubbing for my nephew who was at school that day.

He is richest who is content with the least,

for contentment is the wealth of nature.

~Socrates

Love the floors! Yes, those are my Birkenstock clad feet.

Slumbering figure of Eros, next to Hygieia's side.
Roman, A.D. 200-250
Marble

Looking down onto the inner peristyle (seen in the first photo) from the second floor.

Head of Emperor Augustus
Roman, 25-1 B.C.
Marble

Hello, handsome! Augustus was always portrayed as a young man, beardless and idealized. I like to imagine the first Roman Emperor like this, in all his gorgeous studly glory, your basic Roman babe. Sigh.

Bust of Emperor Commodus
Roman, A.D. 180-185
Marble

Wine Cup with Revelers
Greek, made in Athens, 500-490 B.C.
Terracotta
Red-figured kylix

The cup above with with drunken young men, holding each other up, cracks me up. The other side has a maenad and a satyr, companions to the wine god Dionysos. Very appropriate!

Looking down from the second floor, you can see the beautiful area below but no water in the pool. (This drought has reminders everywhere!)

True happiness is ... to enjoy the present 

without anxious dependence on the future.

~Seneca

Mold-Blown Glass

Greek or Roman Glass Bowls
between 100 B.C.- A.D. 25

Green Cup with Tendrils
Roman, A.D. 1-100

Snake Bracelet

Romano-Egyptian, A.D. 1-100

Gold

Necklace with a Phoenician Pendant of a Bearded Man
Etruscan, 525-500 B.C.
Gold and glass

Necklace with Relief Pendant
Roman, A.D. 200-400
Gold, garnet, emerald, glass, and chalcedony

Bracelet

Roman, A.D. 300-400

Gold, glass, emerald, and sapphire

(so gorgeous!!)

Greek, probably made in Alexandria
Egypt, 220-100 B.C.
(Need something fabulous to cover your bun?!)

Earring with Nike Pendants
Greek, 225-175 B.C.
Gold and glass

... and going waaaaay back here!

Pregnant Female Figure
Early Cycladic, 2700-2300 B.C.
Marble

Harp Player
Early Cycladic, 2700-2300 B.C.
Marble
(Only one of a dozen known sculptures of its kind.)

They were selling these little olive trees ... 

Wall Fragment with a Peacock
Roman, about A.D. 70
Plaster and pigment
Fresco

In Ancient Rome, Peacocks were brought from India to Rome, where they became exotic pets and were symbols of immortality and wealth.

Below, my sister and her friend Chris.

What you leave behind is not what is engraved in stone monuments,

but what is woven into the lives of others.

~Pericles (Greek circa 495-429 BCE)

No man ever steps in the same river twice,

for it's not the same river, 

and he's not the same Man.

~Heraclitus (circa 535-475 BCE)

That's my sis!

I used to love watching Huell Howser on PBS! Here is his visit to the villa. (He cracks me up. No one is ever more enthusiastic than Huell was!)

for my past posts of the Getty Villa click here and here.

for the official website click here.

Hope you enjoyed the visit! 

blessings and light!

Day by day,

what you choose, 

what you think

and what you do

is who you become.

~Heraclitus (Greek from Ephesus 535-475 BCE)