Michelozzi (born 1396, Florence [Italy]—died 1472, Florence), architect and sculptor, notable in the development of Florentine Renaissance architecture.
Michelozzo studied with the celebrated sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti, in whose workshop he acquired the skills of a bronze founder. After 1420 they collaborated on the “St. Matthew” for the church of Or San Michele, Florence. In 1427 Michelozzo and the sculptor Donatello established a partnership, active until 1438, to build several architectural-sculptural tombs. They also collaborated on the pulpit (designed 1428) in Prato cathedral.
Throughout his career Michelozzo was closely associated with his principal patrons, the Medicis, and he followed Cosimo de’ Medici into exile at Venice in 1433. Upon Cosimo’s triumphant return to power in Florence in 1434, Michelozzo’s architectural career began in earnest with several important commissions. In 1436 he began the complete rebuilding of the