The grain of the poplar panel is very evident, with areas of distortion in the grain pattern caused by faults in the boards, probably where branches grew out from the trunk. A marked flaw in the wood can be seen at the right edge of the wider board of the panel, above and to the right of the subject’s head. Two more occur at the right edge of the narrower right-hand board, the first at the same level as that in the left board, and the other further down, above the position of the sitter’s proper left hand. In places these interrupt the image of the first pattern of the fabric hanging, eventually painted out by Raphael and replaced with a plain dark green hanging. In the X-radiograph the teardrop shapes of the pattern and two of the emblems, the papal tiara and the cross-keys are evident, but the emblem on the third of the diagonal rows in the pattern does not register.

The areas of flesh painting contain more lead white and therefore register more strongly in the X-radiograph than in many of Raphael’s earlier works. The free brush work is also apparent, for example in the white fabric and in the white fur edge to the red velvet cap and mozzetta, broadly painted with long, continuous strokes of lead white with the small strokes for the tufts of fur worked into the paint while it was still soft. The thick highlights of lead-tin yellow on the finials and tassels of the throne are particularly dense to X-rays and so appear as white in the X-ray image. The good state of preservation of the painting means that very few areas of loss can be detected; the small vertical damage in the Pope’s forehead, however, shows as black as a result of the loss of the X-ray opaque paint layers.