The Museum’s collection includes more than 28,000 works that represent Western and non-Western art from ancient periods, the European Middle Ages to the nineteenth century, and American art of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. The collection was started by John Ringling, and it continues to grow.  In addition to the accessioned art collection, the Museum’s Archives and Art Library contain research collections focusing on John Ringling, the art which is contained in the Museum’s collection, institutional records, and the historic and modern circus.