June 15, 2015

Day #12

     John and Mabel Ringling came from humble mid-western origins.   After many years of wintering in Sarasota, Florida, they decided to make the town their permanent home.  Ca’d’Zan (House of John) stands as a testament to the American Dream of the Roaring Twenties.  Designed in the Venetian Gothic style of the palazzos that surround the Venice canals, their palatial mansion captured the splendor and romance of the Italy the Ringlings loved.

 

Ca'd'Zan (House of John)
John and Mabel Ringlings' Mansion

 

     Ca’d’Zan sets on Sarasota Bay and not far down the shoreline, John’s brother, Charles Ringling, also built a mansion, which is now used by Florida State University as part of their Sarasota campus.  We walked all through Charles’ home.  Even without any furniture other than FSU offices and waiting areas, you couldn’t miss how magnificent the mansion is.

 

Foyer in Charles Ringlings' Mansion
now used for registration, class rooms
and professors' offices for FSU College of Fine Arts.

 

     We toured the bottom floor of the Ca’d’Zan , but didn’t take the extra tour of two more floors above us.  Mainly, because we thought the boys wouldn’t really enjoy the tour.  We were wrong.   They were very interested and wanted to know why we weren’t going upstairs.  They also asked questions about some of the rooms, what they were used for (Tap Room) and questioned what exactly a Westinghouse Automatic Range was.  By the way, it was one of the first models of an electric stove.

 

Westinghouse Automatic stove in the Ca'd'Zan.

 

     The Ca’d’Zan is 5 stories tall, has 36,000 square feet and 41rooms and 15 bathrooms.

 

Tap Room in Ca'd'Zan

Reception hall in Ca'd'Zan
Chandelier came from Waldorf-
Astoria in New York.

 

    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    

 

     John and Mabel Ringling left their estate to the state of Florida.  In 2000, the Florida legislature placed the stewardship of The Ringling under Florida State University.  FSU has a long tradition of excellence in the arts, and the College of Fine Arts contains some of the leading arts programs in the nation.

     I was absolutely fascinated with the Art Museum.  The Ringling is the state Art Museum of Florida.  While traveling through Europe looking for circus acts, John and Mabel started acquiring a massive collection of art.  They also bought art books which are now in the Art Museum Library.

     John built a 21-gallery museum to house his treasured collections of paintings and art objects, highlighted by his collection of Old Masters, including Velazquez, Poussin, van Dyke and Rubens. The museum and a courtyard filled with replicas of Greek and Roman sculpture, including a bronze cast of Michelangelo’s David amazed me.  If you enjoy art museums, this should be put on your bucket list.

     Here are three of the hundreds of paintings I found fascinating:

 

The "Blue" Madonna  c.1670
Carlo Dolci, Italian, 1616-1687

 

Salome with the Head of John the Baptist, ca 1520's
Giovanni Antonia da Pordenone, Italian, 1483/4-1539

 

Saint Joseph with the Standing Infant Christ Child c. 1670-75
Bartolome' Estaba'n Murillo, Spanish, 1618-1682

 

 

Until next time,

Dolores