BUON, FAMIGLIA. - GIOVANNI, architect and sculptor, is first recorded in Venice in 1382; d. there in 1442. He worked together with his son Bartolomeo on the church of S. Maria dell'Orto, the abbey of the Misericordia, the church of S. Polo, and the Scuola grande di S. Marco (1437), where he provided the Gothic frame of the portal (the lunette is attributed to Bartolomeo). In 1438 he began work on the Porta della Carta. His activity unfolded within the Gothic tradition, to which his son Bartolomeo (d. in Venice in 1464) remained attached, renewing its significance through a broad expressive force of modelling inspired by Tuscany (cf. the Charity, Scuola grande di S. Marco).
Bartolomeo is the leading representative of Venetian sculpture in the first half of the century, and the greatest plastic production of the time is linked to his workshop. The quality of his art is best documented by the lunette of the portal of the Scuola della Misericordia (1441-45) rather than by the Madonna in the Udine Town Hall (1448); and there seems no need for the direct intervention of a Tuscan to explain the delicate elegance of the lunette in S. Maria della Salute (formerly in S. Maria della Carità, 1443-49). Among his most notable works are the well-head at the Ca' d'Oro and the sculptural decoration (the attribution of the Virtues is disputed) of the Porta della Carta.