BON (Buon), Italian family of sculptors and architects

They were active in Venice from the late 14th century to the late 15th. Giovanni Buon ran a large workshop in Venice, where his son Bartolomeo Buon was probably trained. Father and son took on a number of joint commissions until Giovanni's death, but the latter's contribution seems to have been a minor one. Attributions to Giovanni and Bartolomeo are many and so diverse that no consensus has been reached on their oeuvre. A complete lack of secure attributions to Giovanni has meant that there is no reliable basis for a reconstruction and appraisal of his career. In Bartolomeo's case the documents are more numerous, with several relating directly to specific works, although these works often show irreconcilable differences of style and quality.