The story of this place
For nearly four centuries the Gonzaga dynasty ruled Mantua from this sprawling palace complex of some 500 rooms—one of the largest in Europe. Its supreme treasure is the Camera degli Sposi ('Bridal Chamber'), frescoed by Andrea Mantegna between 1465 and 1474 with intimate group portraits of the Gonzaga family. On its ceiling Mantegna painted the first true di sotto in sù ('seen from below') illusion: a painted oculus opening to a blue sky, with putti, women, and a peacock peering down over a balustrade—a trick that reinvented ceiling painting and inspired Baroque masters. The court was a magnet for Renaissance genius; Isabella d'Este assembled here one of the age's finest art collections. Verdi set 'Rigoletto' in Mantua's ducal world.