John Ringling's primary work was his traveling circus, which still entertains Americans to this day. But he also dabbled in oil, real estate, finance, and ranching, and the combination made him a very rich man. In 1926, he built a Venetian-style palazzo on the east edge of Sarasota Bay, filled it with European art and furniture he bought from other wealthy American collectors, and spent two or three months a year there, entertaining the cream of society. The dream didn't last long; his wife Mable died in 1929, aged 54, and he followed her to the grave in 1936. After that, his stunning estate, his mansion, and his stash of priceless art were bequeathed to the state. Today, the legacy of this circus magnate is the tent-pole (if that's the term) of Sarasota tourism, hosting a third of a million visitors a year.

Now under the aegis of Florida State University, the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art is the state’s official art museum. Over 500 years of the history of European and American art are represented in the collections of the Museum of Art, which also presents a vibrant schedule of special exhibitions. The collections of 17th-century baroque paintings are world-renowned, and include five vast, famous tapestry cartoons by Peter Paul Rubens.


At the western lip of Bayfront Gardens, 66 lovely acres of ponds, lawns, and gardens, stands Ringling’s home Ca'D'Zan ("cah-duh-zan;" it takes its name from "House of John" in the Venetian dialect), a mish-mash of furniture bought at auction and styles borrowed from the Continent. It was built between 1924 and October 1925 at a cost of $1.5 million and modeled after several Venetian palaces on the Grand Canal. This 56-room palatial mansion has been meticulously restored. A 13,000-square-foot marble terrace leads down to the lower dock where John and Mable Ringling moored several luxury yachts and a gondola.

But the attraction you will certainly be talking about is the Circus Museum, which is based here because Ringling once used Sarasota as a winter base for his crews. Here, the fascinating tale of the circus is retold intelligently and with some prime artifacts including Buffalo Bill's spangled gloves and whip and Tom Thumb's miniature suit, boots, and umbrella. That's interesting enough, but the 3,800 square-foot illuminated diorama of an early 20th-century traveling circus in its unfurled glory (ostensibly on a Friday, October 23, in Knoxville) is truly astonishing and could suck you in for an hour: 1,300 workers, 152 wagons, dozens of tents, 55 train cars, and fine details down to the meals on the picnic tables of the catering tent. Artist Howard Tibbals began making it in 1956, the same year Ringling Bros. abandoned canvas tents for indoor arenas.

The grounds include a classical courtyard, a rose garden, a museum shop, and the historic Asolo Theater, an 18th-century Italian court theater, which the Ringling’s first director, Chick Everett Austin, moved here in the 1950s. It’s now one of the centerpieces of the Florida State University Center for the Performing Arts.

The museum’s onsite restaurant, The Ringling Grillroom, is an elegant spot serving modern American fare for lunch and dinner depending on the time of year. A museum admission ticket isn’t required to dine in the restaurant.

You’ll need most of a day to see everything here. On Thursdays from 5 to 8pm admission is discounted to the art museum and the gardens, and The Museum of Art, Bayfront Gardens, and Glass Pavilion are free to the public on Mondays. Regular museum admission includes entry to Museum of Art, Circus Museum, and the Bayfront Gardens, but not Ca d’Zan.