Villa La Favorita was the last great Gonzaga palace (the dukes of Mantua) built by the will of Ferdinando Gonzaga. Ferdinando was the second-born of Vincenzo Duke of Mantua; he was sent to Rome to start an ecclesiastical career, which was typical for the Italian noble families to avoid succession fights. Ferdinando became cardinal when his brother Francesco IV died of smallpox with his only son. He returned to Mantua just to find the worst economic crisis of the duchy. Francesco tried to cut court costs during his brief period of…
