Michele Sanmicheli was an Italian architect and urban planner who was a citizen of the Republic of Venice.

After staying in Rome to complete his education studying the art of Bramante, Raphael, Sansovino, and Sangallo, he returned to Verona, where he received numerous prestigious commissions throughout his life.

Hired by the Serenissima as a military architect, he designed numerous fortifications in the vast Venetian republic, thus ensuring a great reputation for himself. His works can be found in Venice, Verona, Bergamo, and Brescia, and he worked extensively in Dalmatia, in Zadar and Šibenik, Crete, and Corfu. Due to his sojourns in the latter locations he was probably the only Italian architect of the 16th century to have had the opportunity to see and study Greek architecture, a possible source of inspiration for his use of Doric columns without bases.

A tireless worker, in addition to constructions of a military nature he was also involved in the design of palaces and religious architecture of great value.