West Courtyard Fountain Conservation

The Ringling Museum of Art, located in Sarasota, Florida, is an art museum founded by John and Mable Ringling. John Ringling was one of the five brothers who owned and operated the famous Ringling Circus. Like many of the wealthy elite of the early 20th century, Ringling collected art and amassed a significant collection. In 1925 he built a structure near his winter home in Sarasota, Florida to both house his collection and provide a space where people could visit and admire it. Architect John H. Phillips designed the museum in the Renaissance Revival style, modeling it on the Florentine Uffizi Gallery. The building was constructed in a u-shape, with a large courtyard in the center to house a sculpture garden; one of the original elements of this space was the West Courtyard Fountain. The fountain was built in the Renaissance style and was a part of Phillip’s design features for the courtyard. It was fabricated from cast stone and featured a large wall and associated balustrade to the west, upper and lower cast stone basins and associated water features, three Hippocampi, and two decorative bronze sculptures attributed to the Chiurazzi Foundry in Naples Italy.

In 2024, EverGreene was contracted by the John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art to oversee conservation and restoration treatments of the West Courtyard Fountain on the Ringling Museum property. Treatment included 1) masonry cleaning, repairs, and repointing of of the west wall and balustrade, upper and lower basin masonry retaining walls to remove dirt; 2) reduction of cuprous staining on cast stone below the sculpture of David using micro-abrasion; 3) design and installation of new fountain plumbing and mechanical systems; 4) removal of original Rosso Antico marble Hippocampi and installation of stone replicas; 5) fabrication of new cast stone bullnose details for the fountain’s two cascade features, 6) installation of a waterproofing system to the fountain basins, and 7) cleaning and conservation treatment of two bronze sculptures. Scope of the work was determined based upon previous assessments performed by our conservators in 2018 and 2023. Following treatment, detailed records of treatment and maintenance recommendations were provided to the Ringling Museum.