Prancesco heard this, and having looked at him fixedly for a moment, he said—“Come hither, and I will content thee.” He then emptied the basket into the skirt of the poor man’s garment, and said, “Go, and may God grant his blessing.” He then sent to Niccolò Buoni, who was his most intimate friend, for more money; indeed the whole of his affairs were arranged by this Niccolò, who received and kept account of his rents, and of the income which he received from the Monte,[1] as well as of the produce of his farms. This Niccolò sold at the right season, and it was his custom to give Bustici what money he wanted every week; these sums GiovanTrancesco would throw into the drawer of his desk, which he never locked, all who might want any for the necessities of the house taking therefrom without restraint, as they happened to require it.
But, returning to the works of II Bustici, I have to relate that he executed a singularly beautiful Crucifix in wood, the size of life, which he proposed to send into Trance; but the work remained in the keeping of Niccolò Buoni, with other bassi-rilievi and designs, being left with him when GiovanTrancesco determined to quit Florence, which he fancied was no longer a favourable abode, and thinking, perhaps, that in changing his residence he should change his fortune also. The Crucifix is still in the possession of Buoni, therefore, together with the other productions just alluded to. For the Duke Giuliano, by whom he was always much favoured, II Bustici executed a portrait of himself, in mezzo-relievo; this was a profile which Giovan-Francesco cast in bronze, and it was considered to be an admirable work; the present possessor of the same is Messer Alessandro, the son of Messer Ottaviano de’ Medici.
To the painter Ruberto di Filippo Lippi, who was his disciple, Giovan-Francesco gave many works by his hand, bassi-rilievi, namely, with models and designs; among others a Leda, a Europa, a Neptune, and a most beautiful Yulcan, with a small work in basso-rilievo, exhibiting the nude figure of a man on horseback, which is singularly beautiful. This is now in the study of Don Silvano Bazzi, at the Angeli.
- ↑ For an explanation of what is meant by this word Monte, to give which would require a greater space than could be afforded to the compass of a note, the reader is referred to Ranke, History of the Popes, vol. i.
