October 2018

MEDICAL TRAVEL
A place of beauty and
wonder in Sarasota
The beautiful garden and exterior of the u-shaped museum.
by Bill Johnson
Italian Renaissance master painter Peter Paul Rubens and
1940s circus daredevil Bruno Zacchini have something
in common. Rubens’ masterful paintings and Zacchini’s
Super Repeating Cannon reside within walking distance
of each other on the majestic estate of John Ringling, the
iconic circus impresario, on the Gulf of Mexico, in Sarasota.
The sprawling 66-acre estate is really something to see.
During the “Roaring 20s” and the “Golden Age” of railroads
carrying circuses from town to town, The Ringling Brothers
“Greatest Show on Earth” made John Ringling one of the
richest men in America. He decided to build a Venetian
Gothic style mansion in Sarasota when fewer than 900
people lived there, and he went on to own more than 25
percent of the city’s land. He also developed about 30
businesses, including oil. When he took an interest in art, it
became a passion that led to the construction of a stunning
art museum, the mansion, and a magnificent performance
theater. Eventually, two buildings were added to showcase
the history of the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey
Circus. Beautiful gardens are spread between the buildings,
studded with sculptures and statues imported from Italy.
All of it is now in the hands of the state, bequeathed to the
“people of Florida” by Ringling when he died in 1936. By
that time, this most remarkable man was financially broke
– wiped out by the Great Depression, the collapse of the
banks and Wall Street. History tells us he died with $833 in
the bank.
To enjoy all aspects of the estate is really more than you can
comfortably do in a day. So you must decide what you want
to see. Let’s take a closer look.
The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art
The art museum is a u-shaped pink structure in the style of
a Renaissance-era palace that existed in Italy. Twenty-one
galleries hold a world-class collection of master artworks
from the Old World, including paintings by Rubens, van
Dyck, Poussin, and others. Ringling had come to favor very
large paintings in order to fill the towering walls of large
rooms. Now the museum offers more than Renaissance
and baroque styles of art. It also contains a gallery for
contemporary art and the Center for Asian art, including
stone sculptures and works of art from Ancient Cyprus to
India and China.
When Ringling built the art museum he had a deep desire
to help educate people and to enhance appreciation of
great art. Judging by the huge number of visitors each year,
including school groups, his goal has been realized.
Between the wings of the u-shaped art museum lies a
beautiful garden. Italian statues line the building rooftop,
which was a style for some Italian palaces.
How much time you spend in the museum depends on time
spent reading the printed notes about each painting. My wife
and I spent more than three hours at the art museum.
The circus museum
The circus museum contains artifacts from the Golden
Age of the “tented circus” that arrived on railroad cars and
paraded to a local meadow or open space to erect the “Big
Top.” If you’re old enough, and you probably are not, you
may have had the magical experience of watching how it
was done, a feat of logistical efficiency. Ringling’s circus
required trains to carry 144 wagons, 1,300 workers, and
performers of all kinds, all the rigging needed for a circus,
along with 800 animals.
Some of the wagons – painted in gaudy eye-catching
designs – are on display. One wagon is a traveling
blacksmith shop, as a “smithy” was needed to fix broken
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OCTOBER 2018