Visiting Sarasota’s Ringling Museum

The John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota is a rara avis, understood in part by knowing that its founder, John Ringling (1866–1936), was the circus entrepreneur who, with four of his brothers, merged their family-owned circus with Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus behemoth that emerged defined the genre for decades. The Ringling Museum features a collection of circus memorabilia. No human cannonballs allowed, though — it’s a museum. Housed in a mansion named Cà d’Zan, Venetian dialect for “House of John,” it’s a 56-room mostly pink Venetian Gothic Revival estate that John and his wife, Mabel (1875–1929), completed in 1926. It was to be their dream house in Sarasota, a rising resort, and it’s furnished more or less as they left it, ornate to the nines. A vast wing in back surrounds an open, colonnaded Palladian courtyard. There’s the Asolo Theater, a small theater designed in 1798 and bought by the museum lock, stock, and arabesque cornice from its owners in Asolo in the Veneto and reassembled at the Ringling. It’s still a performance center.

In the last few years, the Ringling built an Asian art pavilion and also a pavilion for contemporary glass. There’s a lush rose garden, too, and a sculpture garden focusing on dwarves, fountains, and — located as the Ringling is on the water — sweeping views of the gulf.

About the Author

Brian T. Allen

Brian T. Allen is National Review’s art critic.

The John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art in Sarasota is a rara avis, understood in part by knowing that its founder, John Ringling (1866–1936), was the circus entrepreneur who, with four of his brothers, merged their family-owned circus with Barnum & Bailey Circus. The circus behemoth that emerged defined the genre for decades. The Ringling Museum features a collection of circus memorabilia. No human cannonballs allowed, though — it’s a museum. Housed in a mansion named Cà d’Zan, Venetian dialect for “House of John,” it’s a 56-room mostly pink Venetian Gothic Revival estate that John and his wife, Mabel (1875–1929), completed in 1926. It was to be their dream house in Sarasota, a rising resort, and it’s furnished more or less as they left it, ornate to the nines. A vast wing in back surrounds an open, colonnaded Palladian courtyard. There’s the Asolo Theater, a small theater designed in 1798 and bought by the museum lock, stock, and arabesque cornice from its owners in Asolo in the Veneto and reassembled at the Ringling. It’s still a performance center.

In the last few years, the Ringling built an Asian art pavilion and also a pavilion for contemporary glass. There’s a lush rose garden, too, and a sculpture garden focusing on dwarves, fountains, and — located as the Ringling is on the water — sweeping views of the gulf.