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 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 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.[1][2] 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 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 the
Gonzaga Cameo along with natural history specimens or 'mirabilia'.
Council of the Gods, oil on canvas, 204×379 cm, Prague, Castle Gallery
Aeneas prepares to lead the Trojan survivors into exile, 1602–1603, oil on canvas, 146×227 cm,
Fontainebleau, Musée National du Chateau (stored at the Louvre)
Raffaella Morselli (ed), La Celeste Galleria, Milan, Skira, 2002.
Lapenta, Stefania; Morselli, Raffaella (2006). La quadreria nell'elenco dei beni del 1626–1627. Cinisello Balsamo, Milan: Silvana.
ISBN88-8215-427-0.
Favaretto, Irene (2002). Arte antica e cultura antiquaria nelle collezioni venete al tempo della Serenissima (Riv. e corr. ed.). Roma: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider.
ISBN8882652238.
Adelaide Murgia, I Gonzaga, Milan, Mondadori, 1972.
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 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 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.[1][2] 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 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 the
Gonzaga Cameo along with natural history specimens or 'mirabilia'.
Council of the Gods, oil on canvas, 204×379 cm, Prague, Castle Gallery
Aeneas prepares to lead the Trojan survivors into exile, 1602–1603, oil on canvas, 146×227 cm,
Fontainebleau, Musée National du Chateau (stored at the Louvre)
Raffaella Morselli (ed), La Celeste Galleria, Milan, Skira, 2002.
Lapenta, Stefania; Morselli, Raffaella (2006). La quadreria nell'elenco dei beni del 1626–1627. Cinisello Balsamo, Milan: Silvana.
ISBN88-8215-427-0.
Favaretto, Irene (2002). Arte antica e cultura antiquaria nelle collezioni venete al tempo della Serenissima (Riv. e corr. ed.). Roma: "L'Erma" di Bretschneider.
ISBN8882652238.
Adelaide Murgia, I Gonzaga, Milan, Mondadori, 1972.