Ringling Sculpture: Home

Welcome to the research guide for the sculpture on the grounds of the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art. Use this guide for books, articles, and other resources pertaining to the statuary on the grounds of the Ringling Museum.

Museum of Art Courtyard

The John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art

In 1925, John Ringling traveled across Europe and collected countless sculptures and marble columns. Of these sculptures, there are sphinxes, lions, cherubs, pastoral couples, and Classical figures. John Ringling collected more than fifty bronze casts of Classical and Renaissance sculptures.

Copies of Greek and Roman sculptures cast by the Chiurazzi Foundry adorn the courtyard of the Museum and stone sculptures line pathways, guard entranceways, and fill the gardens within the rest of the John and Mable Ringling estate. Some of the marble sculptures and urns are accredited to the Chiurazzi Foundry as well. These sculptures decorate the grounds and seem to complete Ringling’s aesthetically striking vision for the Museum.

Seventy six decorative limestone male and female statues line the roof on the high balustrade above each column of the loggia arches reminiscent of Italian villas. Bronze and stone sculptures and two 16th century fountains are set symmetrically in an arrangement similar to 18th and 19th century Italian gardens. The bronze sculptures of the courtyard consist mostly of single mythological figures such as gods, warriors, or athletes. These bronzes statues are castings of Roman copies of Greek originals. Within the courtyard there are also stone putto and adaptations of Italian sculptures.

This guide was created by Brittany Braasch, January 2020.