In 1432 the Gonzaga become marquis of the empire and start a marriage policy that, together with the new status of the family, gives the family an important role on the European scenario of power. Gianfrancesco and Ludovico II are the first marquis of the age of Mantua felix; Virgilio's land becomes a capital of humanistic culture, where some of the most important personalities of the Renaissance live: Vittorino da Feltre, Leon Battista Alberti, Pisanello, Mantegna or Luca Fancelli.
After the marquesate of Federico I and Margaret of Bayern, the government of Francesco II and Isabella d'Este marks the apotheosis of a cultural leadership that appropriately hide the political and military weakness of the small State. The Ca’ Zoiosa and the Camera picta, the Ducal Palace, the Basilica of Sant’An­drea and the Studiolo of Isabella are the visible and distinctive elements of Mantua in the golden century of the European Renaissance.