Fort Myers and Sanibel Holidays
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
John Ringling, one of the five original circus kings of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, was blessed with entrepreneurial genius and through his success with the circus and other investments, became quite wealthy. In 1911, John and his wife Mable purchased 20 acres of waterfront property in Sarasota, Florida. In 1912 the couple began spending winters in Sarasota and later decided to build a home there.
In the spirit of America's wealthiest Gilded Age industrialists, John Ringling gradually acquired a significant art collection and built a palace for his treasures in a 21-gallery Museum of Art on his Sarasota property.
John Ringling bequeathed his art collection, mansion and estate to the people of the State of Florida at the time of his death in 1936.
Designated as the official state art museum for Florida, the institution offers twenty-one galleries of European painting and antiquities plus Asian, American and contemporary art. The museum's art collection currently consists of more than 10,000 objects that include a variety of paintings, sculpture, drawings, prints, photographs, and decorative arts from ancient through contemporary periods and from around the world. The most celebrated items in the museum are sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth century European paintings, including a world-renowned collection of Peter Paul Rubens paintings.
The grounds consist of: the Museum of Art; Circus Museums, including the world’s largest miniature circus; Cà d'Zan - the
Ringling’s mansion; Mable Ringling’s rose garden; a visitor’s pavilion and more.
