戈耶的這幅畫的色彩鮮艷奪目，加工十分精細：總的來說，是藝術上非常成功的作品。緊束腰身的絨帶使衣服更加突出，而衣服的不可思議的紅色在不太鮮艷但卻明亮的底色上突顯出來。孩子淺紅色的面孔在精細的花邊褶領巾露出來；且四同被棕色的頭髮圍襯著。

       整個情景似乎表現出寧靜和安詳的神態，天真無邪地在同栓在繩子一頭的動物以及關在籠子裡的動物嬉戲。但足我們不難發現，當人們讓孩子像往常一樣稍玩片刻之時，從他睜得大大的眼睛裡，從他過於嚴肅的而容上透露出一絲顯著西班牙貴族即將大難臨頭的跡象。

       也許應該從被栓住的動物，從孩子背後暗中發光的貓的眼睛，從被關在綠色籠子裡的小鳥，看到某種象徵性的意義。除了對一些細節作出可能的解釋之外，這幅畫確實優美無比，人物位於畫面之中保持著構圖的平衡，所有細節都認真刻畫，而色彩也神奇般地諧調。總之，戈耶善於抓住童年天真爛漫的本質和特性的本領，體現了一個偉大的肖像畫家的才華。

  In this portrait Manuel wears a red outfit, which has given the painting the nickname the "Boy in Red". He is accompanied by several pets. Attached to a string is a magpie that holds Goya’s calling card in its beak. To the right is a cage full of finches and to the left three cats. Manuel’s pets have been interpreted in several different ways. The caged birds are usually symbols of the soul and of innocence; the cats can be seen as forces of evil; for Virch (1967), "all motion is suspended, but one can easily imagine all hell breaking loose in the next instant, when those monstrously intent cats, foreboding evil, jump at the magpie and tear apart the fragile birdcage, creating disorder and early sorrow. . . By introducing the dark forces of evil Goya gave poignancy to his portrayal of innocent youth." According to Chan (1980) the birdcage is a symbol of the confinement and protection of childhood, while the cats represent Fortune, Time, and Fate, and the magpie Destiny. The animals have also been seen as related to the iconography of Christ and his Passion (Pressly 1992) and to the educational views of the Enlightenment (Mena Marqués 2004). In general the animals fit within a larger visual tradition of children’s portraiture in Spain (Velázquez) and in England (Reynolds and Hogarth).  

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