The old reinforcments (22 cm at the top, 11.5 cm at the sides and bottom) were removed or covered in 2000.
Charles de Guise (1525-1574), Archbishop of Reims, was one of the leaders of the Spanish Catholic Party at the court of the last Valois. The parrot, Italian 'papagallo' points as a pun (Papa gallo = Gallic pope) to the ambitions of the cardinal.
A contemporary reproduction engraving (parrot replaced by cross) and several old copies are known.
The attribution to El Greco is based on stylistic considerations and is agreed upon by most scholars.