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24-750: The Gonzaga Collection or Celeste Gallery ( la Celeste Galeria ) was the large collection of artworks commissioned and acquired by the House of Gonzaga in Mantua , Italy, exhibited for a time in the Palazzo Ducale , the Palazzo Te , the Palazzo San Sebastiano and other buildings in Mantua and elsewhere. The Gonzagas were inspired by the wunderkammer style of collecting practised by

48-710: A half-sister of King Conrad III of Germany , and so greatly increased his family's prestige. He entered into the Italian policies of Conrad and the Byzantine Emperor Manuel I Komnenos , setting a Ghibelline precedent for his successors, and with his sons became involved in the Crusades . Marquess Boniface I was the leader of the Fourth Crusade and established the Kingdom of Thessalonica in

72-659: A manner much like his predecessors to redefine the great fiefs of Italy. He continued the work that had been done to organize the northwest into three great marches. In the Eastern Liguria territory known as marca Obertenga , Otto returned Oberto Obizzo to his lands and appointed him the margrave of the newly created March of Genoa . In the Turin territory known as the marca Arduinica , Otto returned management to Arduin Glaber and then in 964 Otto appointed Arduin margrave of

96-650: A minor Gonzaga-Vescovato branch, which is the only remaining existing branch. The House of Gonzaga was an important patron of the arts. This began when Gianfrancesco Gonzaga funded a school led by Vittorino da Feltre where music and art were core subjects along with mathematics, history, Greek and Latin, religion, and philosophy. The music theorist and composer Franchinus Gaffurius was trained at this school. Isabella d'Este , wife of Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquis of Mantua , used her influence to financially support native composers at court (such as Bartolomeo Tromboncino and Marchetto Cara ) which contributed to popularizing

120-501: A period of diminishing territoriality. In that year, Montferrat was seized by the Spanish under Emperor Charles V of Habsburg , who restored it to Federico II, Duke of Mantua from the House of Gonzaga in 1536. His son Margrave William X was elevated to a Duke of Montferrat in 1574 and the "march" ceased to exist as an entity, though it had already undergone the significant change from a feudal collection of frontier counties to one of

144-633: A role in the War of the Mantuan Succession . A further cadet branch was that of Sabbioneta , founded by Gianfrancesco , son of Ludovico III . Marie Louise Gonzaga , daughter of Prince Charles Gonzaga-Nevers , was a queen consort of Poland and grand duchess consort of Lithuania from 1645 to her death in 1667. Two daughters of the house, both named Eleanor Gonzaga, became Holy Roman Empresses , by marrying emperors Ferdinand II of Germany and Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor , respectively. From

168-489: A younger son of Federico II Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua , and Margherita Paleologa , married the heiress. The Gonzaga-Nevers later came to rule Mantua again when Louis's son Charles (Carlo) inherited Mantua and Montferrat, triggering the War of the Mantuan Succession . Another cadet branch were first sovereign counts, later dukes of Guastalla . They descended from Ferrante , a younger son of Duke Francesco II of Mantua (1484–1519). Ferrante's grandson, Ferrante II , also played

192-661: The Gonzaga Cameo along with natural history specimens or 'mirabilia'. House of Gonzaga The first members of the family of historical importance are known to have collaborated with the Guelph faction alongside the monks of the Polirone Abbey . Starting from the 12th century they became a dominant family in Mantua, growing in wealth when their allies, the Bonacolsi , defeated the traditional familiar enemy,

216-464: The Latin Empire of Greece . Reuniting Thessalonica, inherited by Boniface's Greek son Demetrius , with Montferrat became a goal of Boniface's Italian heirs, though nothing ever came of their endeavours. In the thirteenth century, Montferrat became embroiled in the conflict between the Guelph and Ghibelline parties under Boniface II and William VII . It had to wage several long wars against

240-580: The cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Novellara, whose state existed until 1728. Francesco I (1382–1407) abandoned the traditional alliance with the Visconti of Milan , in order to align their rising power with the Republic of Venice . In 1433, Gianfrancesco I assumed the title of Marquis of Mantua with the recognition of Emperor Sigismund , while obtaining recognition from the local nobility through

264-499: The frottola . Cardinal Ercole Gonzaga founded an ecclesiastical chapel which employed musicians and further advance the musical live of the region through sacred music composition and performance. Guglielmo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua , himself a gifted composer, founded the Basilica palatina di Santa Barbara (construction began 1562) which became a cultural center for sacred art and music. He also brought several notable composers to

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288-628: The Casalodi. In 1328, however, Ludovico I Gonzaga overthrew the Bonacolsi lordship over the city with the help of the Scaliger , and entered the Ghibelline party as capitano del popolo ("people's captain") of Mantua and imperial vicar of Emperor Louis IV . Ludovico was succeeded by Guido (1360–1369) and Ludovico II (1369–1382), while Feltrino , lord of Reggio until 1371, formed

312-676: The Mantua court, including Alessandro Striggio , Giovanni Giacomo Gastoldi , Giaches de Wert , Benedetto Pallavicino and Claudio Monteverdi . Through Monteverdi, the court witnessed some of the first operas ever staged, including L'Orfeo (1607) and L'Arianna (1608). Marco da Gagliano 's La Dafne was staged in 1608. The Gonzaga House also sponsored theatre. The Mantua court staged Giovanni Battista Guarini 's plays Il pastor fido and L'idropica . These plays included incidental music by several different composers, including Monteverdi, Gastoldi, Gagliano, Paolo Birt, and Salamone Rossi . Ferdinando Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua also supported

336-463: The area of Montferrat was constituted as the marca Aleramica ("Aleramic march") for his son-in-law Aleramo . The earliest secure documentation of Aleramo and his immediate family is derived from the founding charter of the Abbey of Grazzano in 961, occasioned by the recent death of Aleramo's son Gugliemo. After King Otto I of Germany invaded Italy in 961 and displaced Berengar II, he continued, in

360-464: The arts, but financial problems for the court led to a decline in support during his reign. Ferdinando Carlo Gonzaga, Duke of Mantua and Montferrat employed Antonio Caldara as maestro di cappella from 1701-1707. government. The branches of the Gonzaga family, showing marquises and (subsequently) dukes of Mantua in bold , dukes of Nevers and Rethel in italics and the Guastalla line to

384-574: The collection, such as the long negotiations from 1625 onwards with Charles I of Great Britain , mediated by two members of the Whitehall Group – the Flemish art dealer Daniel Nys and Nicholas Lanier , Master of the King's Music. These culminated in 1627 with most of the Gonzaga collections being sent to London. This ensured their preservation, unlike the artworks still in Mantua when the city

408-499: The independence-minded communes of Asti and Alessandria and it became the standard-bearer of a renewed Lombard League which was forged to fight the spread of Angevin influence into northern Italy. The capital of Montferrat at this time was Chivasso , the centre of the margraves' power. In 1305, the last Aleramici margrave died and Montferrat was inherited by the Greek imperial Palaiologos dynasty, who held it until 1533, during

432-583: The latter Empress Eleonora , the current heirs of the Gonzaga descend. Saint Aloysius Gonzaga was a member of a junior branch of this family. The House of Gonzaga is the inspiration for the play-within-the-play in Shakespeare's Hamlet . In Act 3 scene 2, they act out a play called The Murder of Gonzago (or The Mousetrap ). Gonzaga rule continued in Mantua until 1708 and in Guastalla until 1746. Both ruling lines going extinct until passing on to

456-579: The marriage of his daughter Margherita to Leonello d'Este, Marquis of Ferrara in 1435. In 1530 Federico II (1500–1540) received the title of Duke of Mantua. Also the two brothers of Federico II are historical characters of a certain importance: Ercole Gonzaga became a cardinal, presided over the Council of Trent and was almost elected Pope; Ferrante was a faithful ally of the Emperor Charles V who covered him with honors and positions, Ferrante

480-502: The newly created March of Turin . And finally in the Western Liguria territory known as marca Aleramica , Otto confirmed Aleramo's titles and position and then in 967 Otto appointed Aleramo margrave of the newly created March of Montferrat. Aleramo's descendants were relatively obscure until the time of Marquess Rainier in the early twelfth century. About 1133 Rainier's son Marquess William V married Judith of Babenberg ,

504-426: The princes of Bavaria , with Isabella d'Este in particular creating a noted private 'studiolo'. They set an example for other European courts, particularly in their patronage of contemporary artists, whilst their collecting increased the international profile of Mantua, a relatively small state. It reached its peak under Vincenzo I Gonzaga and his son Ferdinando , before the family's decline led to major losses from

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528-657: The right. Marquisate of Montferrat The March (also margraviate or marquisate ) of Montferrat was a frontier march of the Kingdom of Italy during the Middle Ages and a state of the Holy Roman Empire . The margraviate was raised to become the Duchy of Montferrat in 1574. Originally part of the March of Western Liguria ( Marca Liguriae Occidentalis ) established by King Berengar II about 950,

552-780: Was also the progenitor of the cadet branch of the Gonzaga of Guastalla. In 1531, the family acquired the Marquisate of Montferrat through marriage. Through maternal ancestors, the Gonzagas inherited also the Imperial Byzantine ancestry of the Paleologus , an earlier ruling family of Montferrat . A cadet branch of the Mantua Gonzagas became dukes of Nevers and Rethel in France when Luigi (Louis) Gonzaga,

576-509: Was sacked in 1630. Its works are now split between museums and private collections across the world, as shown by the 2002–2003 exhibition Gonzaga. La Celeste Galeria. Il Museo dei Duchi di Mantova at the Palazzo Te and Palazzo Ducale, which included around ninety paintings from the total of approximately 2,000 originally in the collection. As well as paintings, the collection also included decorative work in gold and precious stones such as

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