The use of a strictly pyramidal composition and of tight and rounded forms for both the anatomies and the clothing, as well as the intensity of the light, indicate that Goya was still under the direct influence of the painting of Anton Rafael Mengs. The treatment of the subject also denotes the closeness of this work to Goya's Italian period, when he had the occasion to study numerous models of Madonna with the Christ Child and little Saint John.

The figures of the children here are linked to others in Goya's work, giving a touch of originality and realism to a scene considered conventional.