the sheet features the famous Pala Bardi, a work by the renowned artist Sandro Botticelli dating from 1485, depicting the Madonna Enthroned with the Child, flanked by Saint John the Baptist and Saint John the Evangelist, currently housed at the Gemäldegalerie in Berlin, Germany.

The stamp on the left frames the figure of John the Baptist; the central stamp features the Blessed Virgin holding the Infant Jesus in her arms; finally, the stamp on the right depicts St. John the Evangelist.

The Saints stand on a marble step, where a small painting resting on an urn, depicting the Crucifixion, is placed centrally.

Each stamp bears the inscriptions ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA” and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’, the coat of arms of the Order’s activities and the face values ‘€ 2.95’.

The sheet also bears, in the top centre on two lines, the headings ‘SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA’ and ‘POSTE MAGISTRALI’, the Order’s coat of arms, on the left, and that of its activities, on the right; in the bottom centre, on three lines, the inscription ‘Sandro Botticelli, Madonna col Bambino in trono fra i Santi Giovanni Battista e Giovanni Evangelista (Pala Bardi), 1485; Gemäldegalerie, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, Germania’.

Credits: foto Scala, Firenze/bpk, Bildagentur fuer Kunst, Kultur und Geschichte, Berlin.