The pigments behind Rembrandt's paintings

Yellow ochre

Look at: the warm areas of the face (cheeks and forehead); the toned background flanking the figure

Iron oxide earth pigment. Applied as a warm scumble over the flesh underlayers on the lit areas of the face: the forehead, cheeks, and nose bridge where the warmest tones sit. Also present in the background mixture, combined with brownish-black and red lake to build the dark warm tone behind the figure.

Red ochre

Look at: the redder tones of the face: the nose, lower cheeks, and lips

Iron oxide earth pigment, cooler and more red than yellow ochre. Used in the flesh foundation layer mixed with lead white and vermilion. In the redder areas of the face (around the nose and lower cheeks), combined with vermilion and a little bone black and applied as a scumble over the warmer underlayers.

Orange ochre

Look at: the mid-tone transitions of the face and neck

Earth pigment between red and yellow ochre in hue. Present in the flesh mixture contributing to the mid-tone transitions between the warm lit areas and the cooler shadow passages of the face and neck.

Brown ochre

Look at: the dark background and the shadow areas of the dress

A darker earth pigment used for toning the background and the shadow passages. Combined with black and other ochres to build the dark warm tone that surrounds the figure.

Bone black

Look at: the black dress; the shadow side of the face

Produced by charring animal bones. The primary black used in the dark dress. Also mixed into the flesh scumble on the cooler, redder areas of the face (the shadow side and around the nose) to cool and darken the tone without using a blue pigment.

Lead white (Cremnitz)

Look at: the ruff collar; the cap; the lit areas of the dress; the highlights of the face

Basic lead carbonate. The primary white throughout. Forms the base of the flesh mixture of lead white tinted with vermilion and red ochre, which underlies the entire face. Also used in the lighter areas of the dress, the ruff collar, and the cap. In the flanking background areas, mixed with bone black and yellow ochre for a cooler grey tone.

Calcite

Look at: the grey tones of the background flanking the figure

Calcium carbonate. Used in the background alongside lead white for toning. Not a strong colorant; its role is to extend and adjust the body of the paint mixture rather than contribute color.

Vermilion

Look at: the lips and the warmest areas of the nose and cheeks

Mercuric sulfide. A bright, opaque red. Used as part of the flesh foundation of lead white tinted with vermilion and red ochre, which underlies the face. Contributes the warm red tone most visible at the lips and the naturally flushed areas of the nose and cheeks.

Red lake (carmine cochineal)

Look at: the dark warm background behind the figure; the subtle red cast of the background overall

Organic red lake made from cochineal insects. Transparent, used in glazes rather than opaque layers. Combined with yellow ochre and brownish-black to build the dark background glaze. The red lake gives the background its warm, slightly reddish depth rather than a flat brown or grey.

Yellow ochre

Look at: the architecture and stonework in the background; the earth tones of figures throughout

Used throughout for figures and backgrounds. In the architectural stonework behind the group, yellow ochre is mixed with brown and red ochre, a transparent brown, black, an organic red, azurite, and a yellow pigment. This is a complex multi-pigment mixture for a single tonal passage. Also used for highlights in areas where the light is not at its maximum brightness, sometimes in place of lead-tin yellow.

Red ochre

Look at: the warm reddish-brown tones of the background; the faces and clothing of secondary figures

Used throughout for figures and backgrounds. One of the base earth pigments contributing to the warm dark tones of the background and the general skin tones of the figures throughout the composition.

Orange ochre

Look at: the warm mid-tones of the background architecture; the earth-toned clothing of background figures

Used for figures and backgrounds throughout. Contributes to the warm orange-brown tones of the mid-ground and background areas alongside red and brown ochre.

Brown ochre(incl. burnt umber, burnt sienna)

Look at: the deep brown shadows in the background; the dark wooden architectural elements upper left

Used throughout for background toning and shadow passages. Also found in some areas of varnish applied over finished passages to tone down areas that read as too bright, adjusting the overall balance of the composition after painting.

Bone black

Look at: Frans Banninck Cocq's black coat and hat, center foreground

The primary black. Used in the clothing of Frans Banninck Cocq, the captain in the center foreground wearing the black coat and wide-brimmed black hat. The deep, matte black of his costume is its most prominent use.

Lead white (Cremnitz)

Look at: Van Ruytenburch's white feather hat, center; the white ruffs throughout; Banninck Cocq's lace collar

Used with calcite in various proportions for toning throughout the painting. The white feather in Van Ruytenburch's hat is one prominent location. A single smalt particle was also found in the lead white underpaint of that feather, part of Rembrandt's technique of adding smalt to increase paint body and preserve brushstroke texture in impasto passages.

Calcite

Look at: the pale grey tones throughout the background stonework and lighter passage areas

Used alongside lead white in various proportions throughout for toning. Adjusts the body and opacity of paint mixtures rather than contributing strong color.

Vermilion

Look at: Frans Banninck Cocq's diagonal red sash, center foreground

An opaque, bright red. Used for the red cloth of Banninck Cocq's sash, the diagonal red band crossing his torso. This is one of the painting's strongest color accents and a deliberate compositional device: the saturated warm red pulls the figure to the foreground. The brightness of vermilion here contrasts directly with the cool dark tones around it.

Carmine cochineal

Look at: the folds of red cloth throughout; the flushed tones of faces in the foreground figures

Organic transparent red lake. Used over opaque red passages in cloth folds to add depth and richness to the color. Also used in facial flesh tones for the blush effect visible on the foreground figures. Applied as a glaze or thin scumble rather than an opaque layer.

Madder lake

Look at: the red cloth folds on the left-side figures; the deeper red passages in clothing

Organic transparent red lake from the madder plant root. Used alongside carmine cochineal in cloth folds and face tones. The two red lakes have slightly different optical characters; madder is generally cooler, and using both gave more range across the reds in the composition.

Red lead (Minium)

Look at: the shield carried by the figure on the far left

Lead tetroxide. An opaque orange-red. Used specifically on the shield visible at the far left of the composition.

Lead-tin yellow(oil paint)

Look at: Willem van Ruytenburch's entire yellow costume, center-right foreground; highlights throughout

Made by fusing lead and tin oxides. A warm, opaque, bright yellow. Used for Willem van Ruytenburch's yellow costume (the lieutenant standing to the right of Banninck Cocq), which is its dominant and most visible use. Also used for many highlights throughout the painting. Mixed with azurite or smalt to produce greens, since no dedicated green pigment was used.

Smalt

Look at: the blue-grey flag upper left; blue passages in clothing throughout; Van Ruytenburch's white feather hat (underpaint)

Ground cobalt-blue glass. Used for blues and greys throughout, including the flag at the upper left and blue passages in clothing, typically combined with azurite and kaolin. Also mixed with lead-tin yellow for light foliage greens. Beyond its color role, smalt was mixed into lead white underpaint layers to increase paint body and help preserve brushstroke texture as the paint dried. Smalt has discolored in some areas of the painting over time.

Azurite

Look at: the blue flag upper left; the blue clothing passages

Basic copper carbonate. A cool blue pigment used alongside smalt and kaolin in the flag and blue clothing passages. Also combined with lead-tin yellow to produce green mixtures in areas where green tones were needed.

Realgar

Look at: the gold-embroidered buff jerkin and doublet worn by Frans Banninck Cocq; gold-thread details on Van Ruytenburch's costume

Arsenic tetrasulfide. An orange-red arsenic sulfide. Used on embroidered clothing to imitate the appearance of woven gold thread. Contemporary sources specifically recommended arsenic sulfides for this purpose. Used with orpiment to produce a warm golden glow on the embroidered jerkin of Banninck Cocq and similar details elsewhere in the composition.

Orpiment

Look at: the gold-embroidered doublet of Frans Banninck Cocq; gold-colored clothing details

Arsenic trisulfide. A golden yellow arsenic sulfide known in Latin sources as auripigmentum ("golden pigment"). Used together with realgar on the embroidered clothing to create the warm metallic gold-thread effect. The combination of the orange-red realgar and golden orpiment more closely approximates actual gold thread than any single earth pigment could.

Stil de grain

Look at: the blond hair of the small girl in the center-left foreground; the lighter-colored hats

Yellow lake made from buckthorn berries. Transparent. Used specifically for blond hair; the analysis distinguished this from the yellow used in hats and clothing, which relied on different pigments. The transparent quality of the lake allows the underlayers to show through, giving the hair a luminous rather than flat yellow tone.

Kaolin

Look at: the grey-blue passages in clothing and the flag

A fine white clay. Used in combination with smalt and azurite in blue and grey passages. Functions as an extender and modifier for the blue mixtures rather than contributing significant color on its own.

Cassel earth/ asphaltum

Look at: the deepest black-brown shadow passages in the background; the dark lower portions of the composition

Two chemically similar dark brown pigments that are difficult to distinguish in analysis. Used in the deepest shadow passages of the background. Also applied in some areas of varnish to quiet passages that read as too bright after painting, adjusting the final tonal balance of the composition.

Yellow ochre

Look at: the warm highlights of the face and forehead; the ochre-toned cap; the coat collar area

Used in the thick impasto on the cheek: lead white tinted with ochres over a brown undermodelling. Also present in the upper background overpaint layer, where white mixed with a little red lake and ochres lightens the area above the head. Contributes to the warm, golden tone of the cap.

Red ochre

Look at: the mid-tone passages of the reddish coat; the visible cuff at the lower right

Used in the mid-tones of the reddish coat as a scumble of red ochre and black mixed with red lake, the layer visible in the coat's intermediate tones between the lit and shadowed areas. In the cuff, used as a layer of orange-red ochre between the brown base and the final red glaze, building up the warm red from underneath.

Orange ochre

Look at: the cuff at lower right; the dark right-edge background

Used in the uppermost paint layer of the cuff: the final surface layer consists of orange ochre mixed with red and yellow lake and a little black. Also present in the dark background on the right edge, contributing a slight warmth to the dark brown passages flanking the figure.

Brown ochre

Look at: the dark background on both sides of the figure; the shadow areas of the coat

The base of the background on the right edge is described as a dark brown pigment containing a little orange ochre. Also present in the undermodelling beneath the face impasto, building the shadow structure before the lighter flesh layers were applied on top.

Lead white (Cremnitz)

Look at: the highlighted cheek directly facing the viewer; the white band of the cap

Used in thick impasto on the cheek, the most heavily worked passage of paint on the face, where the paint surface is physically raised and catches light at an angle. Lead white tinted with ochres is applied over a brown undermodelling. This is the most prominent example of Rembrandt's late technique: letting the material surface of the paint itself contribute to the visual effect. Also present in the lighter background layer above the head.

Carmine cochineal

Look at: the reddish coat throughout; the cuff at lower right; the lighter background above the head

Transparent organic red lake. One of two red lakes used simultaneously in this painting. Present in the mid-tone scumble of the coat, in the dark shadow layer, and in the complex cuff layering. Also in the upper background mixture of white with a little red lake and ochres, which gives the background above the head a very subtle warm tint. This pigment is fugitive and has likely faded since 1669.

Madder lake

Look at: the reddish coat, especially the deeper shadow areas; the cuff

Transparent organic red lake from the madder plant. Used alongside carmine cochineal throughout the coat layering. In the cuff, the penultimate layer is a deep red glaze of red ochre and red lake. Madder and carmine are optically distinct; madder tends cooler, and using both allowed finer control over the quality of red in different passages. Also fugitive.

Stil de grain

Look at: the deepest shadow areas of the reddish coat

Yellow lake made from buckthorn berries. Transparent. Used in the dark shadow layer of the coat: a mixture of red and yellow lake pigments intensified with black. The yellow lake component deepens the shadow tone in a way that keeps it warm and chromatic rather than simply dark and neutral.