Travertine Walls Housed Lions, Bears, Buffaloes in the Colosseum & Now Priceless Works of Art

We can thank the Getty Teacher Programs for reminding us that travertine now houses works of art rather than animal cruelty at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, CA. 

Leaf and Feather fossils

A View of the Getty Center
Los Angeles

"Happy first National Fossil Day! Did you know that the stones used to build the Getty Center, called travertine, are full of leaf and feather fossils?" 

"The travertine at the Getty Center dates from 8,000 to 80,000 years ago, and comes from the same quarry in Tivoli used by ancient Romans to build the Colosseum. "

So a beautiful building in the middle of Los Angeles, CA is made of material from Italy. That's interesting enough. But now consider:




According to Oh, Yikes!: History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments by Joy Masoff, Terry Sirrell: 

Travertine walls

Many a Bear, Bull, Lion, Panther and Elephant, Python, Wild Dog, Hyenas, Crocodile, Deer met their vicious deaths behind the travertine walls of the Colosseum.   


If you can stomach it click here, here here and here to see Roman art images, collected by Barbara F. McManus of The College of New Rochelle, that depict bestiae under Roman care.


I've heard from of few of you that you are studying Latin to prepare for future work with animals. How do you react to this stark truth about how the Romans treated animals?





Interested in reading more about travertine and the architecture of the Getty? 
Click the links below.

The Getty Center & the Getty Villa: A View from the Outside

Note the videos available inside this link.

 ~MC

Oh, Yikes!: History's Grossest, Wackiest Moments page 104-107 by Joy Masoff, Terry Sirrell as a Google Book.