Artist Jan van Eyck | ||
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Similar Madonna of Nicolas van Mael, Portrait of Isabella of Portugal, Vera Icon, Portrait of a Man with Carnation, Portrait of Jan de Leeuw | ||
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 a diplomat working under Pope Martin V. He met van Eyck during a peace congress in Antwerp, when the artist portrayed him. It is held in the collection of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen in Dresden. The drawing, along with the Saint Barbara in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp are the two surviving drawing by van Eyck. This work is especially valuable to art historians as it includes notes made to indicate the colors intended for the final oil portrait.
The preparatory study shows an eardley cleric who is visibly aging and imprinted with deep lines below his eyes. The work is a commission; Albergati is shown near full frontal and dressed in the pomp of a cardinal, and his gown is lined with luxurious fur.