He was one of the first makers of the Brescian school and a contemporary of Gasparo da Salò.
He was born in Montichiari, the son of Zanetto Micheli, and for 65 years he carried out a very long and rich career as a music instrument maker, specializing in strings, learned from Zanetto.
In 1568 he was called "maestro di strumenti da sonar" (master of instrument for playing) a special qualification in common with da Salò that testifies to the variety of the items made by the maker: viols, violas, violones, lyras, double basses, violins, ceteras.
He became a very rich man like da Salò and Costanzo Antegnati.
Beautiful instruments survive, like the viola da gamba without corners of the MIM, Musée Instrumentale de Musique in Bruxelles; this typical model was used also by Gasparo da Salò for two instruments, one in the Vazquez collection and one in the Vettori collection.