The garden is decorated with authentic Roman busts. Even many the plants, flowers and trees planted here are the same kind that grew in Roman gardens in the first century after Christ. Oil billionaire J. Paul Getty built this spectacular complex in 1971, but, ironically never lived to see it. After his death, it became an art museum open to the public. And it shows.
Money is no object here.
Many of these galleries are so spectacular that they would be worth seeing if they were empty. But they are filled with a striking collection of paintings, sculpture, etchings, drawings, illuminated manuscripts, antiquities, decorative furnishings, and even photography. The galleries range from vast halls to intimate chambers, in a variety of styles - all rich in gleaming marble and hushed elegance. The lower level is devoted mainly to ancient Greek and Roman antiquities, mostly marble busts and statues, but also bronzes, vases, murals, pottery and frescoes. Currently, the upper level holds a wide collection of European art, ranging from 16th century Italian masterpiece paintings in ornate gold frames, to medieval sculpture.