Buon (or Bon), Bartolommeo (c. 1374–c. 1467)

Italian architectural sculptor. He was one of the leading sculptors of the early Renaissance in Venice, though his style is still largely Gothic. He is best known for his work on the Porta della Carta (one of the main doorways of the ducal palace in Venice), with its famous Lion of St Mark, and its statue of Justice and other figures.

Trained by his father Giovanni, Bartolommeo is first recorded collaborating with him on the facade of the Church of Santa Maria dell'Orto in his native Venice in 1392. They next appear in 1422 working, with others, on the Ca d'Oro, where their work continued until 1437. The large well head in its courtyard, adorned with allegorical figures, is documented to Bartolommeo in 1427.

From the late 1430s date a lunette over the entrance to the Scuola di San Marco and the Porta della Carta of the ducal palace. Another important carving is the lunette of the Madonna of Mercy (now Victoria and Albert Museum, London) from the facade of the Misericordia, a charitable brotherhood.

Buon's style, with its emphasis on luxuriant foliage and heraldry, is essentially Gothic and has an attractive boldness, owing to the relatively hard local stones he used, Verona red marble and Istrian limestone.