Detail of a Garland and a Theatrical Mask from one of the Reproductions of a Roman Wall Painting in the Large Peristyle of the Getty Villa, July 2008

Outer Peristyle

The Museum's south doors open onto the Outer Peristyle, the largest garden at the Getty Villa. It is adorned with hedge-lined pathways and circular stone benches. Plants favored by the ancient Romans, such as bay laurel, boxwood, myrtle, ivy, and oleander, are planted around a spectacular 220-foot-long reflecting pool. Bronze sculptures, replicas of statues found at the Villa dei Papiri, are placed in their ancient findspots. A peristyle, or covered walkway, surrounds the formal garden and leads visitors past illusionistic wall paintings to spectacular views of the Pacific Ocean.

Text from: www.getty.edu/visit/see_do/gardens.html