A proficient painter of larger religious subjects, Castillo is now best known for his rural genre scenes prepared for the Royal Tapestry Work in Madrid with Ramon and Francisco Bayeu and their brother-in-law Francisco Goya in close and occasionally conflated styles. Castillo’s paintings of gentry and urchin amusements can best be distinguished from his colleagues by the shorter swaybacked figures and broadly shadowed faces best typified by the six tapestry modeli of childrens’ games in the Museo Romàntico in Madrid, including an Albanquero (“Little Fan Seller”) and at games with markers and balls. 

Castillo’s considerable abilities are still without a full dress monograph, although one can make do with the information and illustrations published by Valentin de Sambricio, Jose de Castillo, Madrid, 1957,  and supplemented by critical observations and minor additions in two major survey books: F.J.Sánchez-Cantón, Ars Hispaniae: Historia Universal del Arte HIspánico, vol. XVII, Pts. 1 & 2: Escultura y Pintura del Siglo XVIII & Franciso Goya, Madrid, 1865, s.v.; José Camon Aznar, Arte Español del Siglo XVIII (Summa Artis XXVII), Madrid, 1989, s.v..