Drawing, Study for Seated Saint Joseph by Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510) is dated to the end of the fifteenth century, and is the only drawing that can be clearly related to a painting by Botticelli: it is the study for the figure of Saint Joseph as it appears in the painting The Nativity with St John in Buscot Park, a tondo dated 1480, the work of the Florentine master. Comment on the drawing Christian Romalli, senior specialist of the Ancient Drawings department of Sotheby's: "The heart of the Italian Renaissance dates back to the second half of the fifteenth century. Almost all the important Drawings of this extraordinary artistic moment in the history of humanity are now kept in public collections, so this opportunity is truly extraordinary.”
The drawing is valued at £1-1,5 million, measures 129 x 124mm. and comes from the famous collection of barbara piasecka Johnson, great collector and philanthropist who died in 2013, owner with her husband John Seward Johnson, of Johnson & Johnson medical and pharmaceutical products.
Also up for auction are eight other Renaissance and Baroque masterpieces, for a total of 8,6 million GBP which will benefit the Barbara Piasecka Johnson Foundation, for the help and care of children suffering from autism. Also at auction, Bartolomeo Cavarozzi with The Sacrifice of Isaac (East. £3-5 millioni)
