Getty Villa Art Pieces The Getty Villa is home to many interesting and amazing art pieces. It was founded by J. Paul Getty in 1954 to display his beautiful collection of art. It was heavily influenced by Greek Architecture especially the Greek Villas. The Villa is known for having some of the more unique statues. Most known for the “Lansdowne Hercules” and the “Victorious Youth” which is actually one of the only bronze statues still intact in the world. Plenty of art pieces are unique and on display at the museum. Focusing on Greek Art and Sculpture is fairly easy as they have their own section clearly labeled Greek. This was a huge help in finding the artwork I needed. Three pieces in particular are interesting and have their own story and style. Prize Vessel from the Athenian Games, 363-362 B.C. is a “Panathenaic amphora” used as a prize to give out to the winner of the Games. The contents of the vase were usually just olive oil pressed from the sacred trees of Athens. These were made in their own unique way and almost always included a narrow neck and a standard decoration pertaining to the games. These vases are always decorated with Athena, the goddess of war, who watches over Athens. On one side, the vase is decorated with Athena in her quintessential gown and a helmet worthy of a goddess. She is depicted in sort of a stride armed with her shield and spear showing how strong she is. The other side is in this case a painting of the goddess Nike, Goddess of Victory, crowning the winner of the event in which they competed. The event was boxing and you could tell by the leather things they are holding as these were commonly used to wrap around their hands.
The vase seems to be taking in the older styles of art and is depicted with the images themselves. The main clue for this is the use of black figure paintings which by this time was pretty much out of style. There are many possible reasoning for this but the main reason is probably because of religious tendencies. Deciding to stick to tradition was valuable as it allows to keep an icon at the games. Just changing the painting of the event was invaluable for scholars to properly date it. The artist has chosen to purposely paint the figure in this old age custom to keep the tradition alive and of course since the games are a religious event and changing the style would be bad. It also allowed the vases to be dated quite easily. The style is indicative of a certain time period and like all styles they eventually go out of style and replaced with something different. The Nike is also a big part of figuring out the date as each event is different and the Nike is painted in a slightly different manner indicating the time period. Now figuring out if it really is Athena or a princess is pretty simple because of various things. Athena is a pretty iconic figure and being the goddess of war she has really distinctive features. The main feature is her shield; the shield is a quintessential piece indicating war. Another feature is the helmet, Athena was born fully armored and the helmet is a crucial piece in identifying Athena. Now since this is a big event, it is not an everyday object and should be pretty cherished. Inside the amphora, is a special olive oil made from the scared grove and the amphora itself is also unique as it has a distinct handle and had a narrow neck and “feet” allowing it to look regal. The amphora was a case made for winners literally. It is specifically made for the winner of the games and the style is unique to the event, it also pays tribute to their goddess Athena as she is immortalized in the vases forever. Statue of a Crouching Lion, from Attica, about 350 B.C. is a sculpture made by a Greek Sculptor as a funerary piece to be placed outside a grave. The main problem is that the Greek civilization especially artists didn’t have access to an actual lion to work from thus making it harder for them to sculpt them. As a way to compensate that they had to figure out a way to model a lion form different animals. From the look of the statue, the sculptor had multiple “models” in which he picked to be the lion. The main difference between a real lion and the statue is the proportion of its body as the lion in real life isn’t so lanky and thin, the lion is known to have a muscular and tough body to survive the wilderness. The body was most likely modeled after dogs that were readily available. The body is too long and resembles to me a much slower and less of a menace. As for the face the sculptor decided to use a regular house cat as the facial features as virtually the same. The catlike features are shown are accurate but have some proportional with those of an actual lion except that some features are a little exaggerated especially the bottom lip. It is too enlarged and looks disproportional to his top lip. The face itself has the right features for a house cat but a lion has a more protruding snout and smaller bridge on its nose. The cheeks are also a little too puffy for the facial structure and the snarl it has is a little too small and the teeth don’t really feel like lion teeth. For not seeing a lion in person, this is an excellent piece of art that really resembles a lion.
Funerary pieces were extremely popular around this time and were put on display near the tomb to represent various things: the family’s wealth and prestige and as a protector forever. There are many reasons why the sculptors seem to favor a lion as the main symbol of pride and wealth. The inherent quality of the piece is the fact that it is a lion. A lion in nature is known as the King of all animals because of its strength, agility, power, and its Mane was majestic demanding to be praised. The lion is also a symbol of virtue and was able to show the bravery and honor of the family. The lion was known to be brave and noble allowing it to protect the grave at all costs. Having these qualities make the lion the best animal to be a family’s protector. The stance of the lion also shows the status of the family. There are many lions is which they are just sitting down relaxing. But this one is crouching which was used to symbol its bravery. By crouching, it is basically ready to pounce on any would be threats. The snarl also shows its ferociousness and its willingness to protect the family’s honor. This piece is beautifully done and serves its purpose as a protector and a symbol of wealth. The funerary statues were an important part of the culture and it shows with the hard work they put into the lion without even seeing one in real life.
The Victorious Youth, ca. 300-100 B.C. is a statue of an athlete who is putting on his own wreath on his head. The wreath is sadly not shown as it was lost throughout time. This is one of the few bronze statues still in such an intact and beautifully preserved way. It has provided information on how ancient bronze casting was made. The eyes are missing which is a shame because like most Greek bronze statues they were inlaid with glass paste or stones allowing it to more incredibly life-like. The really incredible thing about this piece of art is definitely its ability to draw in a crowd. The sculpture is really proportionally well-done for the most part.as it really encompasses everything that an athlete represents. The model isn’t made to be that muscular which is a great thing because the athletes back then weren’t really that muscular, they were really fit and toned enough to see the muscles well. The main thing about this statue is the fact the head is a separate piece from the body. The head could be seen as a whole different piece of art. I didn’t notice initially, I had to read it from the label, to find that the head was cast separate from the body. Upon this realization, you could tell easily that the head was given so much time and attention that it came out beautifully. Because of this, the Getty assumes that it might have been done by the sculptor Lysippos as he specialized in making the head really detailed and beautiful. Lyssipos had the tendency to make his figures a little too elongated to make the statue look like an elite athlete. The main focus was the eyelids were extremely detailed and the fact that the body seems to be elongated which was a signature Lyssipos detail. He tended to make the heads small to make the art piece look more majestic and grander.
Although the victorious youth is amazing they are other pieces of art that are effective and differentiate from the style it had. The Torso of an Athlete, Roman, and A.D. 100 sculpture is also depicting an athlete but this one is totally different than the victorious youth. The Victorious Youth made out of bronze so my I think it would much harder to design and sculpt on bronze statues. The Torso of an Athlete was sculpted by Polykleitos, a master sculptor, and it has its own sense of presence. The Victorious Youth differs from the Torso of an Athlete in many different ways. The Torso appears to accentuate the muscular form more than the victorious youth. The way that the Torso of an Athlete is sculpted is to embrace the muscles and show the actual dimension of various muscle groups. The V Cut muscles are extremely defined and have some dimension to them unlike the Victorious Youth which shows that he has the V cut abs as well but they are lacking in definition. Overall the Torso of an Athlete is more proportional than the Victorious Youth. The Victorious Youth has a more elongated torso which makes the figure look more lanky and taller while the Torso of an Athlete torso is all equally proportional making for a more complete body. Polykleitos sought for perfection and displayed this through the use of symmetry, correct measurements, and detail. The muscle definition really helps to read more like a human to me. Sadly the head is missing and that’s where it would have gotten interesting in comparing the two. Upon looking at the Torso of an Athlete, I would think that the head would mesh well with the whole piece unlike the Victorious Youth which utilizes a smaller head to achieve that grander and majestic feel. The Victorious Youth is an amazing piece of art and is beautifully sculpted to fit the Greek style. The Roman sculpture Torso of an Athlete is similar as it also represents the male figure but in a more dynamic way. The muscles are more defined and you could feel the power that this athlete had. Both are excellent examples of what the time period had to offer and show unique styles on both parts.
The Getty Villa is an awesome museum and has many unique pieces. People from all over come to see the art and is extremely popular. The pieces chosen have a Greek background towards them and discuss about the Greek art influences and how to tell little details about the art. The Greek were mastermind in virtually everything during their time of excellence whether it was math, science, and especially art. In the larger scope of Greek art, these pieces are well known and serve a purpose in the society.