Ever wonder what it would be like to take a museum object out of its case for a closer look? Try the next best thing! Join an educator on select days at the Getty Villa and handle replica objects along with the materials and tools that ancient artists used to create the works of art on display in the galleries.

Drop by this engaging handling session to learn more about the craft and the artists who mastered methods of engraving gemstones. Experience the ancient process by discovering the steps and skills used to create an intaglio (a carving cut below the surface of a gemstone) and cameo (a carving in relief). Touch and look closely at replicas of gems on display in the Museum's collection. Explore and handle the materials and tools in an ancient engraver's tool kit, including drill bits with tips the size of a grain of sand and carving materials like diamond dust and olive oil. Enjoy an array of gemstones used by ancient engravers, including malachite, agate, and rock crystal. Learn about the magical properties these materials were perceived to have. Then experience for yourself the more practical uses of engraved gems as signet rings by creating an impression in clay that you can take home.

Video: Watch a gem engraver demonstrate ancient carving techniques.

Handling Sessions are also available for blind and low vision groups. Learn more about how to sign up.

Glassmaking Techniques
August 4, 2011–February 26, 2012

In this unique handling session, participants experienced the transformative process of glassmaking from salt and sand to objects of beauty. With hands–on opportunities with replica works of art, participants learned about the ancient techniques used to create works on display in the exhibition Molten Color: Glassmaking in Antiquity. Among samples of metal ores used in ancient glass recipes that participants could touch were also a playful flask molded in the shape of a fish, an ingenious elegant pitcher–within–a–pitcher, and a mosaic glass bowl created by merging lengths of multicolored glass.

Video: Watch a glassmaker demonstrate ancient glassmaking techniques.

Painting Portraits
February 1–July 31, 2011

Mummy portraits provide a human face to ancient life in Greco-Roman Egypt. This drop-in handling session explored how painters created likenesses and the techniques of tempera and encaustic painting on wood. Participants discovered some of the surprising materials ancient artists used, which ranged from gold leaf and honey to rabbit-skin glue. With an educator as a guide, visitors learned about how mummy portraits like those of Herakleides and Isidora were created from start to finish.

Video: Watch a conservator discuss the scientific analysis of the mummy of Herakleides and recent discoveries about its origin, materials, and construction.

Video: Follow the steps of the mummification process in this short animation about the Getty Museum's Romano-Egyptian mummy Herakleides.