Getty Villa

I recently visited the Getty Villa museum in Malibu, a magnificent reproduction of the Villa dei Papiri in Herculaneum that was buried by Mount Vesuvius' eruption in AD79. The museum underwent a nine year renovation and is now even more beautiful than when I visited it over twenty years ago. The structure is magnificent, the setting idyllic, and the antiquities displayed inside are beyond description. The museum itself has elaborate decoration and some of the finest faux painting I have ever seen (this art form was very popular at the time). The tile work is breathtaking, with complex marble designs on the floors, walls, and ceilings. The antiquities date from the Greek and Roman empires, ranging from hundreds of years BC to several hundred years AD, all in the finest condition.