renaissance art

Newport Mansion Exhibits Vanderbilt Art Collection

Filed under: Events, Art

One of Newport, Rhode Island's Gilded Age mansions, Marble House is getting back some of its original treasures, at least for at time. The AP reports that the collection of more than 300 objects of Medieval and Renaissance art amassed by the Vanderbilt family will be back at the home where they were once hosed. The pieces were bought in Paris and displayed in Marble House's red-walled Gothic Room. But after the house closed in 1925 the collection was sold to art collector and circus entrepreneur John Ringling. The pieces now have a permanent home at the John and Mable Ringling Musuem of Art in Sarasota, Florida. The Ringling Museum has loaned the collection to Marble House through October 31 and the pieces have all been reassembled in the Gothic Room and displayed as they were 100 years ago.

The Preservation Society of Newport County operates the Marble House and other Newport mansions as public museums. With its elaborate columns and style Marble House is among the most popular of Newport's mansions. It was completed in 1892 for railroad heir William K. Vanderbilt and his wife, Alva. The cost was a reported $11 million and it was the most lavish house in America when it was built.

Tags: gilded age, marble house, medieval art, newport, newport mansions, renaissance art, ringling museum of art, vanderbilts