he would never let anyone leave him uncomforted;
nay, keeping his money, whether he had much or little, in a basket, he
would give some according to his ability to anyone who asked of him.
Wherefore a poor man who often went to him for alms, seeing him go
always to that basket, said, not thinking that he could be heard: "Ah!
God! if I had in my own room all that is in that basket, I would soon
settle all my troubles." Giovan Francesco, hearing him, said, after
gazing at him fixedly a while: "Come here, I will satisfy you." And
then, emptying the basket into a fold of his cloak, he said to him: "Go,
and may God bless you." And shortly afterwards he sent to Niccolo Buoni,
his dearest friend, who managed all his affairs, for more money; which
Niccolo, who kept an account of his crops and of his money in the Monte,
and sold his produce at the proper seasons, made a practice, according
to Rustici's own wish, of giving him so much money every week, which
Giovan Francesco then kept in the drawer of his desk, without a key, and
from time to time anyone who wished would take some to spend on the
requirements of the household, according as might be necessary.

But to return to his works: Giovan Francesco made a most beautiful
Crucifix of wood, as large as life, for sending to France, but it was
left with Niccolo Buoni, together with other things in low-relief and
drawings, which are now in his possession, at the time when Rustici
resolved to leave Florence, believing that it was no place for him and
thinking by a change of country to obtain a change of fortune. For Duke
Giuliano, by whom he was always much favoured, he made a profile of his
head in half-relief, and cast it in bronze; and this, which was held to
be a remarkable work, is now in the house of M. Alessandro, the son of
M. Ottaviano de' Medici. To the painter Ruberto di Filippo Lippi, who
was his disciple, Giovan Francesco gave many works by his own hand, such
as low-reliefs, models, and designs; and, among other things, several
pictures--a Leda, a Europa, a Neptune, a very beautiful Vulcan, and
another little panel in low-relief wherein is a nude man on horseback of
great beauty, which panel is now in the study of Don Silvano Razzi, at
the Angeli. The same Giovan Francesco made a very beautiful woman in
bronze, two braccia in height, representing one of the Graces, who was
pressing one of her breasts; but it is not known what became of it, nor
in whose possession it i