Although the long period betwen Cabrera´s alleged birth date and his first known works sheds doubts on the former, the painter´s will of 1768 makes it clear that he was a native of Oaxaca. By 1737 he was in Mexico City where, in 1740, he married Ana María Solano y Herrera. It is thought that his master was José de Ibarra and he was among the artists who examined the original painting Virgen de Guadalupe in 1751. He also participated in the attempt at founding an academy in 1753. In 1756 Cabrera consecrated himself as an intellectual, not only an artist, by publishing an account of the image Virgen de Guadalupe in the press of the Jesuit college of San Ildefonso. His production includes grand wall paintings and retablo design as well as small works on copper. He is also known for his many excellent portraits and for a series of casta paintings.
