Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati



Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati is a silverpoint drawing attributed to the Early Netherlandish painter Jan van Eyck, made in preparation for his Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati of 1431. Niccolò Albergati was traditionally identified as the subject of the drawing and portrait, but modern scholarship suggests that Henry Beaufort is more likely the subject. The drawing is held in the collection of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden.

The preparatory study shows an elderly cleric who is visibly ageing and imprinted with deep lines below his eyes. He is shown in near full frontal profile, dressed in the red robe of a cardinal, with a gown lined with luxurious fur.

The drawing, along with the Saint Barbara in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp and Crucifixion in the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen are the only surviving drawings by van Eyck. The work is especially valuable to art historians as it includes notes made to indicate the colours intended for the final oil portrait.