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.^[1]^[2] 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.^[3]

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.^[4] The work is especially valuable to art historians as it includes notes made to indicate the colours intended for the final oil portrait.

Notes

^ Vale, Malcolm (April 1990). "Cardinal Henry Beaufort and the 'Albergati' Portrait". The English Historical Review. 105 (415): 337–354. doi:10.1093/ehr/CV.CCCCXV.337. JSTOR 570845. Retrieved 13 July 2023.
^ Harriss, G. L. (2004). "Beaufort, Henry [called the Cardinal of England]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1859. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
^ Harbison, 42
^ "Concerning a drawing at the exhibition The Road to van Eyck". Flemish Art Collection. Retrieved 13 June 2024

Sources

Ainsworth, Maryan Wynn. From Van Eyck to Bruegel: Early Netherlandish Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. NY: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2009. ISBN 0-8709-9870-6
Borchert, Till-Holger. Van Eyck. London: Taschen, 2008. ISBN 3-8228-5687-8
Conway, Martin. "A Head of Christ by John van Eyck". The Burlington Magazine for Connoisseurs, Volume 39, No. 225, December 1921
Harbison, Craig. Jan van Eyck, The Play of Realism. London: Reaktion Books, 1991. ISBN 0-948462-18-3

[1] Vale, Malcolm (April 1990). "Cardinal Henry Beaufort and the 'Albergati' Portrait". The English Historical Review. 105 (415): 337–354. doi:10.1093/ehr/CV.CCCCXV.337. JSTOR 570845. Retrieved 13 July 2023.

[DNB-2] Harriss, G. L. (2004). "Beaufort, Henry [called the Cardinal of England]". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/1859. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)

[3] Harbison, 42

[fp-4] "Concerning a drawing at the exhibition The Road to van Eyck". Flemish Art Collection. Retrieved 13 June 2024

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v t e Jan van Eyck
List of works
Portraits	Portrait of a Man with a Blue Chaperon c. 1430 Léal Souvenir (1432) Portrait of Cardinal Niccolò Albergati (1432) Portrait of a Man (Self Portrait?) (1433) Arnolfini Portrait (1434) Portrait of Baudouin de Lannoy c. 1435 Portrait of Jan de Leeuw (1436) Portrait of Giovanni di Nicolao Arnolfini c. 1438 Portrait of Margaret van Eyck (1439)
Single religious works	Annunciation (Madrid) c. 1432–1434 Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata c. 1432–1440 Annunciation (Washington) c. 1434–1436 Madonna of Chancellor Rolin (1435) Lucca Madonna (1436) Virgin and Child with Canon van der Paele (1436) Madonna in the Church c. 1438–1440 Madonna at the Fountain (1439) Madonna of Jan Vos (1441–1443)
Polyptychs	Ghent Altarpiece (with Hubert van Eyck, completed 1432) Crucifixion and Last Judgement Diptych c. 1430–1440 Dresden Triptych c. 1437
Illuminated manuscripts	Turin–Milan Hours ("Hand G", c. 1420)
Drawings	Saint Barbara (1437) Study for Cardinal Niccolò Albergati c. 1432 Study for a Crucifixion c. 1440
Lost	Portrait of Isabella of Portugal c. 1428–29 Saint Christopher c. 1460 Woman Bathing c. 1434 Vera Icon (Head of Christ) (before 1438) Madonna of Nicolas van Maelbeke (after 1440)
Contested	The Three Marys at the Tomb c. 1420s The Fountain of Life c. 1432 Portrait of a Man with Carnation (1435)
Workshop	Crucifixion c. 1430–1432 Ince Hall Madonna (after 1434) Christ on the Cross with the Virgin and Saint John c. 1435 Saint Jerome in His Study (1442)
Related	Hubert van Eyck (brother) Early Netherlandish painting