Ovid’s Ars Amatoria serves up the rules of ancient Roman dating and sex—some hilarious, some mildly horrifying. More»
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A Greek, a Roman, and a priest walk into a bar… More»
“I can really appreciate the ancient system where borrowing, amalgamating, and generally mixing it up was perfectly acceptable.” More»
We are in the territory of Janus, the ancient Roman god who gives us the name of our first month. Janus is the master of beginnings, as well as doors and archways (minus their hinges, a subspecialty deputized to the… More»
Conservation treatment represents an important moment in the life of an object, and this is particularly true for the Berthouville Treasure, an extraordinary group of Gallo-Roman silver that arrived at the Getty Villa two years ago. In collaboration with the… More»
One of the most enjoyable aspects of curating an exhibition is serendipity. Not to say these projects aren’t carefully planned (far from it), but sometimes the physical relationship of two artworks will coincide in an unexpectedly fortuitous way, or a… More»
Accompanying you as you wander the gardens at the Getty Villa are 44 beings in bronze—animals, gods, satyrs, troubled philosophers, athletic youths crouched for action, wild-eyed old men with scraggly beards. These are replicas of ancient Roman sculptures commissioned by… More»
This Saturday, October 22, the Getty Museum is teaming up with the Archaeological Institute of America to celebrate National Archaeology Day. The Villa, with its Roman-inspired architecture and gardens and collection of Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, is a great… More»
The two bronze statues at the heart of the current Getty Villa exhibition Apollo from Pompeii: Investigating an Ancient Bronze—set to close September 12—may look rather familiar if you’ve traveled to Pompeii or seen it in pictures. For as you… More»
A new exhibition opening at the Getty Villa, Apollo from Pompeii: Investigating an Ancient Bronze, marks the completion of an 18-month conservation project that developed in collaboration with the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples. The exhibition presents the different aspects… More»
Remarkably realistic for medieval illuminated beasts, which were often fabulous admixtures of fantasy and fur. The unicorn is clearly drawn from life, for example.