It's big, I'll give the museum that. You'd expect nothing less from a man who owned "The Greatest Show on Earth."
And greenery has been restored to the gorgeous interior courtyard after last season's hurricanes. Chris said the grounds reminded him of the Getty Villa.
Maybe, maybe not (I've only been to the museum), but they provided Thom with a pretty backdrop.
One museum gallery--of more than twenty--is filled with Italian Renaissance art, handsomely mounted but unidentified.
St. Francis definitely seems like he belongs at the Ringling!
John and Mable Ringling adored Venice--it inspired Cà d' Zan, their bay front mansion. This busy scene is painted on Venetian glass.
Although several Old Masters distinguish the collection--the museum is particularly proud of the five enormous canvases by Peter Paul Rubens that hang in a huge gallery at the entrance--little of it was particularly impressive although I did love this depiction of a satyr's agony.
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| "The Flaying of Marsyas by Apollo" by Antonio de Bellis (detail, ca 1637-40) |
Does this monochromatic painting--at least 12 feet tall--say Tiepolo to you?
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| Two Allegorical Figures (1760) |
Members of the One Percent often buy old books by the foot for decorative, rather than intellectual reasons. Size and volume, not quality, seem to have been the primary impetus behind the Ringlings' acquisition of 10,000 art objects, some purchased in auction lots.
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| "Summer" after Giuseppe Arcimboldo (late 1500s) |
Still, I added three paintings of St. Sebastian to my digital collection.
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| Saint Sebastian by Nicolò de Simone (1640s) |
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| Saint Sebastian by Francesco Zaganelli (ca 1515) |
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| Saint Sebastian by Marcel Duchamp (1909) |
The Ringling reminded me of Crystal Bridges, another museum constructed with a self-made businessman's personal fortune: the Waltons, now the richest family in the world, arrived on the scene after other institutions already had acquired many of the best art works from the past. That's why a good curatorial eye can be more easily expressed through contemporary art, although the Ringling, now administered by Florida State University, can no longer compete with the Waltons' acquisition fund.
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| "Ain't I a Woman (Sandra) by Mickalene Thomas (2009) |
Gifts from board members like Ellen R. Sandor help the museum stay relevant. As a student at the Chicago Art Institute, photographer Danny Lyon documented the Civil Rights movement through his affiliation with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. He's probably best known, however, for his book The Bikeriders, turned into a terrific movie last year.
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| Sheriff Jim Clark arrest two young men demonstrating for voter registration on the steps of the federal building (Selma, AL, 1963) |
The Ringling has plenty of space for traveling exhibits.
Some showcase local artists.
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| The Shot Caller (Store Run) by Michael Vasquez (2024) |
Joo Woo, born in South Korea, now lives and works in Tampa. She hand-paints random cut outs from various sources, assembling an eye-popping collage that reflects her immigrant experience with highly personal symbols
. . . including American slang.
Before you leave the Ringling, take some time to get acquainted with the denizens of the Dwarf Garden.
And we're not talking plants! Statues like these--some people liken them to Britain's garden gnomes--first became popular in the Medici court of the 1600s.
More Ringling:
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