April 28, 2011
J. Paul Getty used some of his wealth to build the Getty Villa in Malibu, California to display invaluable, classical antiquities collections not only to California, but also to the world.
The Getty Villa reopened as home to art and antiquities collections after a nine-year, $275-million renovation and expansion (as cited at http://golosangeles.about.com).
The Malibu Villa became the home of the J. Paul Getty Museum in 1974, and was modelled after Villa dei Papiri in Italy.
The Villa dei Papiri was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Architectural consultant Norman Neuerburg thus based the museum's landscaping details from other ancient Roman houses in the town of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae (as cited at http://www.getty.edu).
Neuerburg closedly worked with J. Paul Getty to develop both the interior and exterior details.
The museum was closed in 1997 and relocated to Los Angeles. Its building was dismantled and rebuilt by Boston-based architects Rodolfo Machado and Jorge Silvetti to be resistant to earthquakes.
The Getty Villa is with 44,000 Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities dating from 6,500 BC to 400 AD, according to wikipedia website.
It is a museum and educational center dedicated to the study of Greek, Roman and Etruscan arts and cultures.
Displayed items include a marble statue of Zeus, a Roman statue of Faustina the Elder (died 141 AD), wife of Emperor Antoninus Pius, from Asia Minor, a marble statue of a kouros, a bust of Roman Emperor Commodus (AD 180-183) and so on.
The Getty Villa exhibits classical antiquities collections of Greek, Roman and Etruscan art. The Villa is modeled after a Roman country house buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD.
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