Rubens, El Greco And The Circus? They're All Here

Where can you find the work of an art master like Rubens and the world's largest miniature circus? Where can you find paintings by van Dyck and El Greco and Buffalo Bill's whip, gloves and other belongings? And what is the one place that displays the actual rooms from John Jacob Astor's Manhattan mansion along with an elaborate calliope?
There is only one place that combines all this within an estate of more than 60 acres including a dramatic waterfront promenade, nuemrous banyan trees and an elaborate rose garden with more than 1,200 plantings.
It's the John and Mabel Ringling Museum of Art and Estate in Sarasota, Florida. We visisted The Ringling yesterday and found it to be a total delight. Here, you can spend an entire day (or several days) amidst a world of natural and created beauty with a dash of whimsy and childhood dreams and memories.
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 (1866-1936) and his wife, Mable (1875-1929) 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. Their property included a house built by one of Buffalo Bill’s circus managers, Charles Thompson. The Ringlings dreamed of helping Sarasota develop into a metropolitan boom town and they became involved in the community, bought real estate, and eventually owned approximately 25 percent of Sarasota’s total area.
The couple’s first project in Sarasota was the splendid Venetian Gothic mansion Cà d’Zan, built between 1924 and 1926 for a then staggering sum of $1.5 million.  Mable had developed an affection for Venetian buildings on their travels and collected sketches and photos to incorporate into the design of the house which reflects both her and John’s taste and passion for opulence. She supervised the construction of the house with architect Dwight James Baum, designer of several New York mansions.
But the mansion is only one of the splendid properties that you can now visit and enjoy.
The Ringling Museum of Art is a world-class art gallery and the Ringling Circus Museum is a joy to behold. On top of all this, the grounds are lush and magical.
Well, since we enjoy art, the circus and flora and fauna in almost equal measure, The Ringling gave us more pleasure than we can calculate.
As we tell you more about Sarasota during our visit here we will be talking about the Ringlings again -- and in later posts we will have more photos to show.
For now, though let's simply say that we highly recommend you put this attraction on your list of "must see" travel experiences. It's a knockout.