Goya expresses the greater importance of this composition through the larger size of the figures, compared to its companion work, Tobias and the Angel (P7856).

The wood shavings on the floor indicate that the scene takes place in Saint Joseph's austere carpentry shop. The Virgin and Saint Joseph —holding his flowering staff— sadly reflect on their child's destiny, which is foreshadowed by the wooden cross he holds in his hands. The light, which is observed with great naturalness, comes from the Child and his Mother and floods the dark room. The composition is ordered according to the reigning neoclassical rigor, to which Goya was not immune at that time.