Undoubtedly, Murilyo did not always work only on those subjects that were close to his heart, disturbed him. In his youth, he had to write a lot to keep himself afloat and not to be pushed into the background by more prolific competitors.
In mature years, the master was given a rest by the customers. And he, willy-nilly, had to write what the clients wanted from him. But even in such cases, Murillo did not create “pass-through” things. For each story, he found his colors, his sound.
Presumably, and “Sleeping Baby Christ with angels”, and “Baby Christ and little John the Baptist with a lamb,” approx. 1670 is the essence of the work, written by Murillo by request, since sugary variations on the theme of the childhood of Christ were very popular among the public. And yet, even here, in such unfavorable “plot conditions”, our hero knows how to find the right tone. Of course, he cannot avoid sentimentality, but he makes this inevitable sentimentality play into his hands.