Florentine architect and sculptor (sometimes incorrectly called Michelozzo Michelozzi). As a sculptor he worked for
Ghiberti (on both his sets of
doors for the Baptistery of Florence Cathedral) and in partnership with
Donatello (1425-c.1433). With
Donatello he produced three major tombs those of
anti-pope John XXIII (Baptistery, Florence),
Cardinal Brancacci (S. Angelo a Nilo, Naples), and Bartolommeo Aragazzi (Montepulciano Cathedral, but now disassembled; two angels are in the Victoria and Albert Museum, London). His style was vigorous and forthright.
In his later career Michelozzo worked mainly as an architect, and he ranks as one of the leading figures of the generation after
Brunelleschi, whom he succeeded as capomaestro at Florence Cathedral (1446). His most famous building is the
Palazzo Medici-Riccardi in Florence (begun 1444), often described as the first Renaissance palace. In addition to the many villas he designed for the Medici, Michelozzo designed the San Giorgio Maggiore Library in 1433 for Cosimo de Medici. Between 1437 and 1452, he rebuilt the Convent of San Marco in Florence.
Michelozzo was influential in spreading the Renaissance style; he worked in Milan, Croatia, and the island of Chios.
