Ca'D'Zan: The Greatest Show on Earth

I mentioned in my last post that John Ringling lived large and Ca'D'Zan, his Venetian Gothic palace, lived up to his slogan for the circus: "The Greatest show on earth." It is an imposing landmark in the Sarasota area.

I say that because it is a monument to all the excesses of the Gilded Age where several families made huge fortunes and then spent a considerable amount of time acquiring things to show off their wealth. As usual, click each photo for a better view.

Ringling took this approach to a new level and the term excess does not begin to describe the size of the mansion and the grounds surrounding it. This aerial shot of it from the 1930's gives a view of the amount of land that was a part of the grounds.

Every inch inside and out is literally covered with very expensive tiles, stained glass, or very dramatic paintings. Notice the ceiling on a balcony (right) near the front of the house...

or the stain glass facade that faces the dock to the mansion...




and the gilding around Ringling's desk in an office complete with a Japanese gong.

It is as if John and Mable Ringling thought that more was better in the race to out-shine all the other millionaires and every room is stuffed to overflowing with every expensive item one could imagine. The Living Room is a perfect example of a room being almost crowded with expensive things...

and then your eyes move upward to the second floor. There is opulence on top of opulence.

Make a 180 degree turn and there is the inside view from those stain glass windows facing the dock a few pictures above.

Take a few more steps and the ceiling in another portion of the Living Room again overwhelms you.

The Dining Room is more of this overwhelming opulence.

It is almost ironic that the only room that is not overwhelming to the eye is the bar. You know that the items in the room are expensive, and yet the decor is tasteful and seems pleasantly calm in relation to the rest of the mansion.

And then, the final irony. For a man who had such wealth during the 1920's, the 1930's were not kind. The stock market crash and the following depression wiped Ringling out. He was removed as the head of the circus corporation, his wife Mable who helped him acquire so many of the things shown in the house, died in 1929. The mansion was the only asset he retained. The man who once was one of the wealthiest men in America died with only $311 in his bank account and he willed the mansion to the State of Florida. It was as if a cruel joke had been played on Ringling and the mansion now stands as a glimpse of the excesses of the roaring 20's.

The Light at the Lightner Museum, Part I

Alex had been telling me we should go to the Lightner Museum during our many trips to St Augustine but some how we never seemed to get around to doing it. So this last weekend when we were at a loss for something to do, the subject came up and this time we decided to go. As always, click on each picture for a better view.

Before you visit the Lightner you have to understand it's history. All of the pieces were created during what would be classed as the Victorian period but really it is a celebration of what is called the Gilded Age in America. This was the period of the Vanderbilts, the Rockefellers, and men such as J. P. Morgan who were financial tycoons who collected great wealth due to the birth of the industrial revolution; and used that wealth to search all over the world for art and objects to outdo one another. Social competition was fierce and one-upmanship was the order of the day. They collected from everywhere but seemed to prefer France. For the literary among you, this was the time of Edith Wharton and "old money".

Living in Florida I have nothing against "The Mouse" but walking into the Lightner you feel like Alice in Wonderland or at least can understand how she felt. Each corridor invites you to a place that truly seems magical. The facility serves a two part function of City Hall and Museum.

The garden is soooo inviting!

and the little pond is loaded with Koi that are a multitude of colors.

From the moment you get off the elevator on the third floor (which is the beginning of the self tour) you realize just how wonderous and huge the place is.

And there are magnificent things that fill every corner of the huge hall, like this Mahogany Vase...

Or this 1842 vase from St Petersburg, Russia...

Or this green vase that was such a deep green the photo does not do justice to the dept of the color.

This desk is said to have belonged to Louis Bonaparte who was appointed King of Holland by his brother Napoleon Bonaparte in 1806. I particularly like this shot because if you look closely you can see both me and Alex giving it the full photo treatment.

There is an entire floor dedicated to different types of glass that I will develop more in the second blog. But, each of these pieces is fabulously beautiful. This vase and the one below were created in Nancy, France.

There are some American artisans among them. Some are very delicate pieces like these produced in Connecticut...

and some strangely fascinating, like this chair that highlights the Easterners love of the western frontier.

This recreated parlor screams wealth but also illustrates the coldness that comes across in Edith Wharton's novels as she describes the stiffness of high society in "Old New York."

I saw this piece from across the balcony and thought it was an oil painting, but was pleasantly shocked to learn on closer inspection it is a collage of cigar bands. I took a close up just so you would see I was not joking!

Some things are timeless, and I marveled at the haunting beauty of this photo taken in 1910 of a camel driver.

This shot is somewhat ordinary in relation to some of the other things featured, but I just liked the way the shot came out.

And finally Alex' favorite... the shrunken head. He ran to it like a five year old school boy on a field trip. What turn of the century household would be complete without one!

I have to admit there is so much to see and the Director of the facility calls it Florida's Smithsonian. I took over 300 pictures and still did not capture everything (I know that because Alex had several shots I did not get) and decided to do a two part feature just to give you the full tour.