Constructed for the Royal Virgilian Academy of Science and Arts (now "Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana"), the theatre in Mantua was designed in late Baroque or early Rococo style by Antonio Galli Bibiena and erected between 1767 and 1769.

It was intended to host both theatre productions and concerts, and scientific discourses and conventions.

A few weeks later, on 16 January 1770, thirteen-year-old Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played a concert here, with resounding success.

[1] His father, Leopold Mozart, wrote about the theatre: "In all my life, I have never seen anything more beautiful of its kind".

[2] In 1773, Giuseppe Piermarini, who constructed the neighbouring palazzo for the Accademia Nazionale Virgiliana, designed and built the façade of the theatre.