The Gonzaga family is one of the oldest and most famous in Italy and its history is strongly linked to that of the city of Mantua, one of the richest centres of the Italian Renaissance. Until the beginning of the 14th century, the Gonzagas were courtiers of the Bonacolsi, lords of the city for about seventy years. Ludovico Gonzaga overthrew the rule of the Bonacolsi in 1328, killing the head of the family and proclaiming himself Captain of the People of Mantua, thus marking the effective beginning of the Gonzaga lordship over the city. Further growth in prestige came with the acquisition of the title of Marquis of Mantua by Gianfrancesco Gonzaga in 1433, when Emperor Sigismund of Luxembourg granted him this honour for his loyalty to the empire. This title marked a considerable leap in the prestige of the Gonzaga family and the 15th century was a century of great artistic prosperity. Under the marquisate of Ludovico II Gonzaga (1444-1478), great artists were invited and financed at the Mantuan court, such as Andrea Mantegna, painter of the famous Bridal Chamber in the Castle of San Giorgio.

The height of the Gonzaga's power came in 1530, when Charles V elevated Federico II Gonzaga to the rank of Duke, marking the family's official entry into the pantheon of Europe's most important noble dynasties. The construction of Palazzo Te, one of the architectural marvels of the late Renaissance, by architect Giulio Romano, also dates back to this period. The Duchy of Vincenzo I marked a moment of great cultural wealth, the golden age of Mantua, but his death also marked the beginning of the decline. In the 1730s, the War of Mantuan Succession led the great European powers (France, Spain and the Empire) to clash for control of the city, which was sacked by the imperial Landsknecht army and suffered the most serious economic and demographic crisis in the city's history. The end of the Gonzaga dynasty came with the seizure of power by the Habsburgs, who gained total control of the Duchy in 1708, putting an end to three and a half centuries of the city's history.