The Gilded Age: Treasures from the Lightner Museum

Beginning on Friday, June 7, 2024, and continuing for the foreseeable future, Lightner Museum showcases an exhibit that offers a fresh look at the extensive Lightner Collection: The Gilded Age, Treasures from the Lightner Museum.

The Gilded Age

The Gilded Age, roughly from 1870 through 1890, saw the construction of two iconic properties in St. Augustine: the building that is now Ponce Hall of Flagler College and the one across King Street that now houses the Lightner Museum. Originally, both were hotels run by Henry Flagler, and catered to the millionaire class that emerged with the growth and success of railroads and industry. The era gave rise to the new, opulent architecture of hotels, mansions, and commercial buildings, and artists in the United States created new types of paintings, sculpture, and decorative arts to fill them.

The Exhibit

The millionaire class of that era earned their wealth in industry, commissioned opulent art, and purchased beautiful furnishings for their homes during the late 1800s and early 1900s. While pundits and writers from the era, including Mark Twain, satirized the new materialism, historians now know that the art and architecture from the Gilded Age increased our understanding of how society changed during those decades.

Most of the art for this exhibit was chosen from the museum's permanent collection and includes stained glass, ceramics, furniture, metalwork, paintings, and sculpture. The works are fittingly displayed in what was the Alcazar Hotel's grand ballroom. 

The statue in the photo is "Cleopatra" by sculptor Raffaello Romanelli. Otto Lightner purchased this statue, and most of the others in the exhibition, when he was a publisher in Chicago.

Event Details

Admission: $20.00 for adults; $17.00 for college students, seniors, and military; $13.00 for youth aged 12-17; free for children 11 and younger.

When: The exhibit opens on June 7, 2024, and continues indefinitely.

Where: The Lightner Museum is located at 75 King St. in historic downtown St. Augustine.

The Museum is generally open from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., seven days a week. They are closed on New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.