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An 18th-century treasure in a 21st-century venue, the Historic Asolo Theater is a work of art in its own right. The palace playhouse was created in Asolo, Italy to honor the 15th-century exiled Queen of Cyprus. In the late 1940s, the theater was brought to the Ringling Estate and served as the first stage for many of the community’s most recognized performance organizations. Today the theater features a diverse performance schedule including theatre, dance, film, music, and lectures.
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The Ringlings' dazzling palatial mansion is a tribute to the American Dream and reflects the splendor and romance of Italy. Described as “the last of the Gilded Age mansions” to be built in America, Cà d’Zan has 56 incredible rooms filled with art and original furnishings. With its Venetian Gothic architecture, the mansion is a combination of the grandeur of Venice’s Doge’s Palace, combined with the gothic grace of Cà d’Oro and Sarasota Bay serves as the Grand Canal.
The Museum of Art, built by John Ringling to house his personal collection of masterpieces, today features the great Old Masters including Rubens, van Dyck, Velàzquez, Titian, Tintoretto, Vernonese, El Greco, and Gainsborough. The museum opened in October 1931, and added the Ulla R. and Arthur F. Searing Wing in 2007, with an additional 30,000 square feet (2,800 m2) of exhibition space. The museum’s 21 galleries feature internationally renowned European, American, and Asian art with masterpieces from the Renaissance and Baroque periods. The Courtyard of the Museum of Art features casts of original statues including the towering David by Michelangelo. The Courtyard features two fountains - Fountain of Tortoises, one of three replicas from the Piazza Mattei in Rome, and the Oceanus Fountain, copied from the 16th-century original by Giovanni Bologna in Florence’s Boboli Gardens.
Established in 1948, the Ringling Museum of the American Circus was the first museum of its kind to document the rich history of the circus. The museum has a fine collection including rare handbills, posters and art prints, circus paper, business records, wardrobe, performing props, and all types of circus equipment, including beautifully carved parade wagons. In the Circus Museum’s Tibbals Learning Center, you'll find the Howard Bros. Circus Model, a replica of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus from 1919 – 1938. It has 8 main tents, 152 wagons, 1,300 circus performers and workers, more than 800 animals and a 59-car train. The model is built in ¾-inch-to-the-foot scale replica and occupies 3,800 square feet (350 m2).
Usually, 2 or 3 art exhibitions going on concurrently. Some pieces in gallery available for sale.
There are 4 shows at the gardens in addition to the grounds which are filled with many interesting plants. As with most early attractions, they offer some animal shows and a chance to see some rare plants, many of which are of extraordinary size. This attraction is a rare opportunity to see what Florida was like in the tourist boom of the early 1900s.