Ancient Life

Stories about how people lived thousands of years ago, and the art they made

Featured Stories

Power in a Mummy Portrait

An ancient portrait in gold and colorful wax of a woman with large eyes and dark brown hair, adorned with earrings, a diadem, and bejeweled necklaces

Look closely at this beautiful mummy portrait on display at the Getty Villa and you’ll find powerful signs of wealth, status, and beauty

What Everyone Gets Wrong About Women in Ancient Rome

Four female figures in various dress, two holding instruments

Podcaster and historian Emma Southon shares what you probably didn’t learn in history class

No Pain, No Rogaine: Hair Loss and Hairstyle in Ancient Rome

Hair obsessions aren’t new. In ancient Rome, attaining the right style was a high priority for the upper-class man and woman

Latest

  1. New Book Explores Secrecy and Production of Knowledge in the Byzantine Empire

    The Secrets We Keep book cover

    The author explores the medieval and Byzantine practices of secret keeping around religious objects, military history, and imperial ceremony

    Jun 26, 2024

  2. Your (Medieval) Cancer Horoscope

    A detail of an illumination. A lobster-like creature is inside a golden circle, surrounded by red stars

    It’s phlegmatic season. Here’s what you should know for the month

    Jun 20, 2024

  3. So You Want to Be an Ancient Roman Soldier

    Copper alloy Roman legionary helmet

    For the unprivileged, serving in the ancient Roman army was a path to wealth building, social climbing, and citizenship

    Jun 12, 2024

  4. Preserving the Past and Honoring Communities

    A group of people in lab wearing lab coats work with materials like metal, rocks, and woven baskets, using tools to study them.

    Together, UCLA and Getty are teaching aspiring conservators how to care for Indigenous and archaeological objects

    Jun 06, 2024

  5. How to Make a Ancient Roman Toga

    Becoming Artsy 308

    Jun 06, 2024

  6. Pottery Then and Now

    man makes pottery in a studio

    Little has changed since antiquity, it turns out, when it comes to the best ways of shaping a bowl or firing a pot

    May 21, 2024

  7. Beautifully Illustrated Guide Illuminates How Medieval Europeans Saw the World

    The Book of Marvels book cover

    This new volume is based on the 15th-century French illuminated manuscript Book of the Marvels of the World

    May 15, 2024

  8. Power in a Mummy Portrait

    An ancient portrait in gold and colorful wax of a woman with large eyes and dark brown hair, adorned with earrings, a diadem, and bejeweled necklaces

    Look closely at this beautiful mummy portrait on display at the Getty Villa and you’ll find powerful signs of wealth, status, and beauty

    May 09, 2024

  9. First Open-Access Issue of Getty Research Journal Now Available

    Getty Research Journal, No. 19 book cover

    Essays explore artworks from Iran, Iraq, France, Germany, and Brazil

    May 09, 2024

  10. How to Drink Like an Ancient Roman

    Classical fresco fragment in muted tones showing a nude male and female god wearing laurel wreaths and holding drinks aloft

    With Getty-Villa inspired cocktails, spirits, and spritzers

    Mar 27, 2024