Juan Caballero y Ocio, patrono y benefactor de obras religiosas

Abstract

The priest Juan Caballero y Ocio (1644-1707) was born in Querétaro and studied at the Colegio Máximo de San Pedro y San Pablo and in the University of Mexico. His comfortable economic situation, originating in livestock raising, enabled him to dedicate a considerable part of his resources to pious works and to patronizing and supporting the construction of churches and monastic buildings, especially in the city of his birth; he showed a particular interest in the welfare of the secular clergy and in attending to the needs of the population of Querétaro. At the same time the assistance he provided reached other parts of the Viceroyalty, among the motives for this being the desire to carry on with good works in which his forebears had participated. While carrying out such tasks, Caballero took part in the propagation of certain religious cults; he also came into contact with the artists and craftsmen of his period and kept well informed of the artistic expressions of his time.