The work depicts a Child Jesus of the Sacred Heart, who also has attributes both of the Child of the Passion and of Salvator Mundi. It is exquisitely executed, both technically and in terms of the materials that compose it. From the main figure to the attributes, and even the foliage that surrounds him with a garland: sweet and seductive, everything is a spectacle for the eye. Even the angels that appear among the clouds with mischievous faces have a soft and magnificent transparency.
The research carried out by the CAEM experts concluded that the piece incorporates material characteristics close to those of Luis Pablo Saturnino Paret y Alcázar (Madrid, 1746–1789). The technical study of its components confirmed that it is a work made with materials typical of the 18th century, in addition to revealing the particular use of a yellow-ocher preparation layer, which matches the type of preparation found in other works by this artist.
According to the stylistic study, it would be a late-century piece, close to the final pictorial period of this artist, just when Paret adopted Neoclassical compositions, though without ever abandoning elements characteristic of the Rococo. This piece would fall within the line of the artist’s various Child Jesus works, in which he creates iconographic fusions: in this case, it presents elements of the Passion, Salvator Mundi and the Sacred Heart. Not only is its iconography ingenious, but every detail of the piece is executed with remarkable refinement. A magnificent work, in short, that reflects the refined delicacy of the Rococo world, combined with the meticulousness and detail of a great miniaturist.