Mannerist architect, especially noted for his original treatment of military fortifications (fortification).

He was a pupil of his father, Giovanni, and his uncle Bartolomeo, both architects in Verona. At an early age he went to Rome, where he studied with architects trained under Donato Bramante and Giuliano da Sangallo. There he also met Antonio da Sangallo the Younger, with whom he later collaborated.

From 1509 to 1528 he was capomastro (“master builder”) of the cathedral of Orvieto, there gaining valuable experience in engineering and design. Sanmicheli and Sangallo were then engaged by Pope Clement VII to examine and repair if necessary the fortifications in the northern Papal States. They also supervised the building of new works at Parma and Piacenza. In 1527 Sanmicheli began to transform the fortifications of Verona according to the newer system of triangular corner bastions, which he did much to advance. He was employed by the Venetian Republic (from 1535) as a military architect and designed elaborate fortresses for Venice, Cyprus, and Crete. The Porta Nuova (1533–40), the Porta San Zeno (1541), and the Porta Palio (1548–59), all fortified gates in Verona, are among his best works. He also designed churches and palaces, some of them reworkings of designs of Bramante, Raphael, the Sangallo family, and Michelangelo. The most notable of his palaces is the quintessential Renaissance Palazzo Grimani (c. 1556; completed c. 1575), on the Grand Canal in Venice; the most remarkable of his churches is the Pellegrini Chapel (c. 1529) in Verona.