Ringling Museum Review

Ringling Museum of Art and CÐ" d'Zan Mansion

As you turn into long the road leading to the Ringling Museum of Art, you can see the magnificent building just ahead at the end of the road. The Ringling Museum of Art has the look of many fabulous mansions and museums in Europe. The museum and mansion are located on approximately 66 acres of land next to the Sarasota Bay; the land

was purchased by Mr. Ringling during the 1920s as part of the boom which took place during that time. The Ringling museum was officially established in 1927.

As you enter the building, you are immediately welcomed with the warm smiles from the attendants

behind the large desk located at the entrance of the museum, which is a welcome sight in the somewhat cold and loud reception room. Behind the attendants are a set of very tall and impressive set of glass doors leading to a large courtyard. There an assortment of larger than life cast iron statues in their birth suit are strategically placed, welcoming on lookers, and bringing you back at least for a moment to the great gardens in European museums such as Versailles just outside Paris, France.

As you walk through the museum, you find works of art from the Renaissance time of early 1400s to artists from the 1800s. The first rooms you enter are rather large; they contain enormous tapestries specially bought in Europe for the museum by Mr. Ringling, the docent explained. The museum is divided by era as well as artists. In addition to the old world paintings you find through out the building, there is also a place for what Mr. Ringling was known for, which is, of course the circus. Original colorful posters from the time The Ringling Brother's circus started appear throughout this area. These small, colorful, and historical posters show the circus was such a fun part of

American life during those early days. In addition to the museum, Mr. Ringling and Mable his wife built a wonderful waterfront mansion named CÐ" d'Zan (House of John), just behind the museum. While walking from the museum to the CÐ" d'Zan Mansion, you begin to realize the grandeur of the location. It took courage and vision for Mr. Ringling to purchase land during the 1920s, in a place where it was not particularly close to a major city, and to built such a wonderful estate. According to the CÐ" d'Zan docent, Mr. Ringling wanted to join other wealthy northerners in buying land around Florida. He liked the Sarasota area and wanted to make Sarasota a wonderful area to visit; he wanted to compete with the resorts in the East Coast of Florida. As I continued to walk toward the mansion, the aroma of

blooming roses soon reached me. I realized, I was very close to Mable's Rose Garden, I looked to my left there was the garden. I could not miss hundreds of roses in all sorts of colors from white to pink to red, the breeze coming from the nearby ocean brought the scent to us effortlessly. Around the estate you also find tremendously huge trees, which provide wonderful shade for sitting and taking in the beauty around you.

As I walked few more yards passing the manicured land escape, and beyond two large Chinese dragon statues along the walkway, I arrived at the CÐ" d'Zan Mansion. It was obvious while standing outside, the opulence waiting for us inside. We walked in through a small glass door and waited in the porch for our tour to begin. After a few

words from our tour guide on what not to do, and what not to touch while visiting the