During a peace congress that was seeking to bring an end to decades of enmity between France and Burgundy, van Eyck painted portraits of some of those in attendance, among them, most likely, Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, who in his position as nuncio was one the most important participants in the negotiations. In Arras, van Eyck created a silverpoint drawing (Dresden, Staatliche Kunstsammlungen, Kupferstichkabinett), which most probably depicts the cardinal. Here the Flemish painter not only captured the physiognomy of the aged cleric but in his notes also specified the coloration