Antiquities

Sculpture, painting, jewelry, vases, and objects of daily life from ancient Greece, Rome, and Etruria

Also posted in Ancient World, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Mortals Pay Homage to Homer’s “Iliad,” Epic of Gods and War

A Homeric omen: A Greek wine Cup featuring a scene of an eagle battling a snake, made about 530 B.C.

Mighty sieges and human follies. The bravado of warriors and the rages and schemes of gods. The Iliad, one of the best-told epics of all time, will be heard aloud again when some 150 volunteer readers recite the ancient Greek… More»

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Also posted in Behind the Scenes, Conservation, Exhibitions and Installations, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Apollo’s Drapery: An Unfolding Puzzle

Antiquities conservator Erik Risser working on the Apollo’s drapery in the Conservation Studio at the Getty Villa

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»

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Also posted in Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Stilt-Walking Actors Extend Their Stay at the Getty Villa

Storage Jar with a Chorus of Stilt Walkers, black-figured amphora attributed to the Swing Painter, Greek (Attic), active about 550-525 B.C. Terracotta, 16 1/8 x 11 7/16 in.  (41 x 29 cm). James Logie Memorial Collection, University of Canterbury

The Art of Ancient Greek Theater closed on January 3, but one loan object from the exhibition won’t be making its way back home for a while. An Attic black-figured amphora, or storage vessel, from the James Logie Memorial Collection at… More»

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Also posted in Art, Behind the Scenes, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum, Research

Deciphering the Getty Hexameters

hexameters_workshop
Jens Daehner, associate curator of antiquities (left), and Sarah Morris, professor of classics and archaeology at UCLA (right), take a close look at the Getty Hexameters.

Scholars from as far away as England and Holland and as near as Westwood recently gathered at the Getty Villa to decipher and discuss an enigmatic ancient Greek text inscribed on a now-fragmentary lead tablet. These so-called “Getty Hexameters” date… More»

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Also posted in Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum, Sculpture and Decorative Arts

A Close Look at the Agrigento Youth

Statue of a Kouros (The Agrigento Youth), Greek, about 480 B.C., Museo Archeologico Regionale, Agrigento, Sicily. Photo © Angelo Pitrone

The Agrigento Youth, a Greek sculpture carved almost exactly 2,500 years ago, is wintering at the Getty Villa. It’s the second work from the Museo Archeologico Regionale in Agrigento, Sicily, to visit the Villa on loan, following the Gela Krater,… More»

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Also posted in Education, Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Drawing from Antiquity: A Chance to Slow Down Time

Artist and drawing enthusiast Jaime Ursic gives a lesson in the Education Studio at the Getty Villa.

Jaime Ursic believes everyone should study drawing. Not just because she’s an artist, but because it gives you two near-magical gifts: looking closely, and slowing down time. She’ll show you how to do both at Drawing from Antiquity, a free… More»

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Also posted in Exhibitions and Installations, J. Paul Getty Museum, Manuscripts and Books

A Lasting War: Representing Troy in Ancient Greece and Medieval Europe

The Construction and Destruction of Troy, Orosius Master, Paris, 1405-6. In City of God (Cité de Dieu; original text in Latin); Saint Augustine, author; Raoul de Presles, translator. The Philip S. Collins Collection, gift of Mrs. Philip S. Collins in memory of her husband, 1945. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Ms. 1945.65.1, fol. 66v

For when one sees a story illustrated, whether of Troy or something else, he sees the actions of the worthy men that lived in those times, just as though they were present.    —Richard de Fournival, Bestiare d’amours, ca. 1250 The… More»

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Also posted in Ancient World, Publications

Comfort Food the Ancient Greek Way: Zeno of Citium’s Lentil Soup Recipe

Zeno's lentil soup

For her book Meals and Recipes from Ancient Greece, author Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti had to become something of a food detective. The Greeks didn’t have cookbooks as we do; instead, hints at their cuisine exist in their literature, in… More»

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Also posted in J. Paul Getty Museum

My Odyssey through the Aegean Islands

Paros marble, Milos Obsidian, and Naxos emery

Art historian and archaeologist Nigel McGilchrist is taking us to the Aegean—and you can come along! On January 13, he’ll give a free illustrated talk at the Getty Villa on his nearly seven years exploring seventy of these beautiful islands,… More»

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Also posted in Getty Villa, J. Paul Getty Museum

Art and Performance in Classical Greece (AUDIO)

Fragmentary Mixing Vessel with Oedipus Discovering the Truth, Greek, made in Sicily, 330–320 B.C.; found in Syracuse. Fragmentary red-figured calyx krater attributed to the Capodarso Painter. Terracotta, 9 7/15 x 18 1/2 in. (24 x 30 cm). Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, Syracusa, Italy, 66557. Su concessione dell'Assessorato ai Beni Culturali e dell'Identità Siciliana della Regione Siciliana - Palermo
Fragmentary Mixing Vessel with Oedipus Discovering the Truth, Greek, made in Sicily, 330–320 B.C.; found in Syracuse. Fragmentary red-figured calyx krater attributed to the Capodarso Painter. Terracotta, 9 7/15 x 18 1/2 in. (24 x 30 cm). Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, Syracusa, Italy, 66557. Su concessione dell'Assessorato ai Beni Culturali e dell'Identità Siciliana della Regione Siciliana - Palermo

Works of art offer a tantalizing window onto the world of ancient Greek theater, providing rich clues to the stories, music, costumes, masks, and actors of ancient tragedies, satyr plays, and comedies. I hope you’ll enjoy this talk, which complements… More»

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      Remarkably realistic for medieval illuminated beasts, which were often fabulous admixtures of fantasy and fur. The unicorn is clearly drawn from life, for example.


      05/23/13

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