Michele Sanmicheli was born between 1486 and 1488 in Verona, which at that time was part of the Venetian Republic. He learned the basics of his profession together with his brother Iacopo and his cousin Matteo Sanmicheli, from his father Giovanni and his uncle Bartolomeo, both stonemasons in the city of Verona.

On 28 October 1530, his role as head of the superintendence of the military factories in Verona was officially sanctioned: he retained this role until his death. His main works include: Honorij Palace, Canossa Palace, Bevilacqua Palace, Pellegrini Chapel, Porta Palio, Porta San Zeno, etc.

Honorij, Spolverini, Allegri, Guastaverza, Sparavieri, Malfatti Palace

The construction of Honorij Palace was the first of a series of building operations through which the current appearance of the Liston was defined over the centuries. This palace still brings justice to Sanmicheli's genius: Sanmicheli was able to introduce order and symmetry where decay was rampant. 

It is the only palace by Sanmicheli with a portico for the walkway. When the Honori family died out at the end of the 16th century, the palace passed to the Sparavieri family and then to the Allegri family, who sold it to the Guastaverza family.

For several decades between the late 18th and the early 19th century, Silvia Curtoni Verza held one of the most important salons in this palace of Verona. In 1845, on the death of Orazio Guastaver(s)za (Silvia's grandson), the Palace passed to his mother's family, the Sparavieri. In the mid of the 19th century, the Sparavieri transformed the ground floor into a café-restaurant.