Ringling Museum of Art
History
Circus entrepreneur John
Ringling and his wife Mable
traveled extensively throughout
Europe in the 1920s searching
for new acts for his circus.
Along the way, they developed
a passion for European art and
architecture. The Ringlings
began building a significant
collection of High Renaissance
and Baroque art.
In 1925, Ringling engaged architect John H. Phillips to design and build a museum on his
Sarasota property to showcase his growing collection. Construction began in 1927 but the
collapse of the Florida land boom and the Great Depression nearly put an end to Ringling’s
dream. He borrowed heavily in order to complete the building which he dedicated to the memory
of his wife, Mable, who died in 1929. In 1930, The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art was
opened to the public.
The result was a magnificent building in the style of Italian villas so beloved by the Ringlings, with
twenty-one galleries, long loggias surrounding a cloistered Renaissance courtyard and adorned
with early 20th century bronze and stone replicas of classical Greek and Roman statuary.
Dominating the courtyard is a cast of Michelangelo’s David from the Plazzo Vecchia, in
Florence.The Italian gallery features panels that were the original cabinet doors in the library of
the Villa Palmieri near Florence. It is noteworthy that it was in this library that Giovanni Boccacio
wrote the Decameron in 1352.
Upon his death in 1936, John Ringling bequeathed the entire museum and his art collection,
along with his winter mansion and the surrounding 66 acres to the state of Florida. It was his
wish that his legacy would establish Sarasota as a cultural and educational center. Legal
challenges tied up the estate for ten years. By the time the state prevailed, there were not
sufficient funds to properly maintain the museum and it fell into disrepair. In the decades that
followed, Ringling would be transformed and expanded upon, with the addition of two circus
museums, a library, administrative offices, a conservation lab, and a visitor’s center.
In July 2000, Florida State University (FSU) assumed governance of the museum.
The state provided $43 million in 2002 to fund restoration of The Ringling and the
museum board raised another $56 million by 2007.
Today the museum has been restored to its original grandeur, honoring the cultural and
educational legacy of John and Mable Ringling.
The Museum Collections
Between 1925 and 1931 Ringling acquired more than 600 masterworks from the late medieval
period through 1900. The museum’s collection of old masters includes, among others, works by
Velasquez, El Greco, Cranach, Poussin, Gainsborough, Titian, Tintoretto and Rubens. In the first
gallery the visitor encounters upon entering the museum hang four enormous tapestry cartoons
from the Triumph of the Eucharist series by Peter Paul Rubens. This is the largest series of works
by Rubens outside of Europe.
Ringling also purchased entire rooms including furnishings, paintings, and architectural details
from the auction of the Astor and Vanderbilt mansions. In 1928, with the acquisition of works
from The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, Ringling expanded the collection to include
classical antiquities from Cyprus.
Although the works bequeathed by John Ringling constitute the core of the collection, it is by no
means a static one. The museum’s first director, Arthur Everett Austin, purchased 20th century
works and the museum hosts several important traveling exhibits each year, many of which are
comprised of contemporary pieces, photography, and Asian art.
Bibliography
Borys, Stephen D. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art: guide to the collections. Sarasota,
Fla: The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 2008.
Brilliant, Virginia. Triumph & Taste: Peter Paul Rubens at the Ringling Museum of Art. London: Scala
Publishers Ltd, 2011.
Buck, Patricia R. The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Sarasota, FL: The Museum, 1988.
De Groft, A. H. John Ringling in Perpetua Memoria: The Legacy and Prestige of Art and Collecting. ,
2000. Rare Book Collection.
Janson, Anthony F. Great Paintings from the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. New York:
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art in association with Harry N. Abrams, 1986.
John Ringling: Dreamer, Builder, Collector: Legacy of the Circus King. Sarasota, Fla: John and Mable
Ringling Museum of Art, 1996.
John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. The Arts of Europe: 1600-1780: Painting and Decorative
Arts from the Ringling Museums. Sarasota, Fl.: John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, .1979.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Owned and Operated by the State of Florida. Sarasota,
1951. Rare Book Collection.
Merling, Mitchell F. Ringling: The Art Museum. Sarasota, Fla: John and Mable Ringling Museum of
Art, 2002.
Walk, Deborah W. A Guide to the Archives of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art: The State
Art Museum of Florida. Sarasota, Fla: John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art, 1994.
Wetenhall, John. A Museum Once Forgotten: Rebirth of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art.
Sarasota, FL: John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art, 2007.
Internet
http://www.ringling.org
Serials
American Magazine of Art, “The Ringling Art Museum and School” 23, (4), 336-339.
Videos
Chong, Alan. Echoing Venice: Isabella Stewart Gardener, John Ringling and the Private Museum.
Lecture by Alan Chong; FSU Ringling Center for the Cultural Arts; The John and Mable Ringling
Museum of Art: 2002.
John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art. New York NY: United Video, 1991.
The Ringling School Tour Video. YouTube video, 6:52.The Ringling, Posted Aug. 6, 2013,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCXsXGIhtk8.
Ringling in Bloom 2013. YouTube video, 2:32. The Ringling, February 27-March 3, 2014. Posted
Jan. 9, 2014, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zab5yyC8E8E.
Peter Paul Ruben’s Symposium, Peter Paul Ruben’s Triumph of the Eucharist Series, Part 1. YouTube
video, 1:15:41, March 30-31, 2013. The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Published June 18, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wkKt0xyqP1Q.
Peter Paul Ruben’s Symposium, Peter Paul Ruben’s Triumph of the Eucharist Series, Part 2. YouTube
video, 2:25:51, March 31, 2013. The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Published June 18, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsEWKwAG9T0.
Peter Paul Ruben’s Symposium, Peter Paul Ruben’s Triumph of the Eucharist Series, Part 3. YouTube
video, 1:27:39, March 31, 2013. The John & Mable Ringling Museum of Art, Sarasota, Florida.
Published June 18, 2014. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rWIMpu-zvXk.
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