The Getty Villa

J. Paul Getty was a dick of a father and grandfather (letting kidnappers cut his grandson's ear off, and still not helping). This movie is a pretty good indicator of his life - All The Money In The World.

Nonetheless, he accomplished was some good in his own way. He was a collector of art. He collected man many pieces, but his first love was Greek and Roman Statuary. He choose to display it in a museum near his house, but it quickly overflowed, so he built a much larger place, the Getty Villa. It was based on specific Roman Villa and served as a gorgeous place to view ancient items.

View of the Pacific behind us

It opened in 1974 - oddly Getty died 2 years later, having never visited. It is Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) just north of Sunset and just south of Malibu. In 1997 the main Getty Museum opened (on the 405 just north of the Sunset exit). When that huge campus opened, the Villa was closed for repair and updating. It took nearly a decade, reopening in 2008.

This was part of a selection of ancient statues and how Rubens interpreted the ancients in his paintings (yes J.P. owns both the statues and the paintings!)

Timed entry means it was not very busy

By 2008, Ed and I were already in New York, so we missed it. Last weekend, I finally got to take Ed.

It is stunning. Both the art and the villa grounds.

It is unbelievable to me the sculptured top on the woman in the middle!

Jupiter (Zues)