Marcantonio Michiel (1484–1552) was a Venetian noble from a family prominent in the service of the

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

who was interested in matters of art. His notes on the contemporary art collections of Venice, Padua, Milan and other northern Italian centres (''Notizie d'opere del disegno''), written sporadically between 1521 and 1543 and preserved in the

Biblioteca Marciana The Marciana Library or Library of Saint Mark (, but in historical documents commonly referred to as the ) is a public library in Venice, Italy. It is one of the earliest surviving public libraries and repositories for manuscripts in Italy and ...

, provide a major primary source for art historians and a less thoroughly inspected source for historians of décor. Michiel never worked up his notes into a publishable itinerary of art collections; "his publication record is poor and mainly posthumous," Jennifer Fletcher has noted, "and letters from friends hint at a certain lack of perseverance." His diary was never intended to be read by the public, and his history of Venice was an endless project.

Pietro Aretino Pietro Aretino (, ; 19 or 20 April 1492 – 21 October 1556) was an Italian author, playwright, poet, satire, satirist and blackmailer, who wielded influence on contemporary art and politics. He was one of the most influential writers of his ti ...

wrote him a flattering letter praising his interests in painting, architecture and poetry. Iconography was his weak point: though his Latin was excellent, his knowledge of the Bible was desultory, and Jennifer Fletcher notes that no one ever took particular notice of his piety. He was comfortably well off, but not rich. He lived in the modest Ca' Michiel on a side canal and married the beautiful Maffea from the Soranzo family, built a villa, raised five sons and lived a private family life.Fletcher 1981:453. In his youth he followed his father to

Bergamo Bergamo ( , ; ) is a city in the Alps, alpine Lombardy region of northern Italy, approximately northeast of Milan, and about from the alpine lakes Lake Como, Como and Lake Iseo, Iseo and 70 km (43 mi) from Lake Garda, Garda and Lake ...

when the elder Michiel was appointed ''Capitano'', and he spent two years in Rome at the court of

Pope Leo X Pope Leo X (; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521. Born into the prominent political and banking Med ...

, as a member of the '' familia'' of Cardinal Pisani. His peers apparently did not want to entrust him with ambassadorial duties in spite of his rank and connections, and it is as a collector and connoisseur, that he is remembered.

Notes

Notizia d'opere di disegno...
his notes compiled by J. Morelli, Bassano, 1800 on

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Michiel, Marcantonio 1484 births 1552 deaths Republic of Venice nobility Scholars from the Republic of Venice Italian art historians 16th-century Venetian people Michiel family