El Greco, Portrait of Jorge Manuel

The following pigment analysis is based on the work of scientists at the Seville Museum of Fine Arts (1). The painting was investigated using the X-ray fluorescence method (XRF) which can only identify inorganic pigments by detecting the individual elements.

1 Flesh tones: lead white mixed with small amounts of vermilion.
2 Dark hair, eyebrows, and beard: burnt umber mixed with a copper-containing pigment. The X-ray fluorescence only allows the identification of specific elements but not the exact chemical composition of the pigment. The copper-based pigment could thus be blue azurite or green verdigris or malachite.

3 White ruff and cuffs: lead white.
4 Red lips: probably carmine (kermes or cochineal). This pigment was tentatively identified by exclusion, as no elements contained in an inorganic red pigment such as vermilion, red lead or lead ochre could be detected in this spot.

5 Dark brown-greenish background: umber and a copper-based green pigment (malachite or verdigris).

6 Black cloak: organic black (bone black, ivory black charcoal black or vine black) with smaller amounts of yellow ochre, azurite, and lead white.
7 Palette and brushes: yellow ochre. The paints on the palette: white: lead white, red ochre for the light red paint, red ochre, and carmine for the more intense read. The dark paint is a mixture of umber and a copper-based pigment.

References

(1) Anabelle Križnar, Maria del Valme Muñoz, F. de la Paz, Miguel Ángel Respaldiza, Mercedes Vega, A COMPARISON OF PIGMENTS APPLIED IN AN ORIGINAL PAINTING BY EL GRECO AND IN A COPY BY AN ANONYMOUS FOLLOWER, e-Preservation Science, e-PS, 2011, 8, 49-54. Available as pdf.

(1) Von Sonnenburg, Hubertus; Preusser, Frank, El Grecos Entkleidung Christi (Espolio) in der Alten Pinakothek, Maltechnik-Restauro Issue 3, July 1976, pp. 142-156.