Diego de Cuentas
(XVIII)

His full name was Diego Alencaster de Cuentas. He was born in Acámbaro in the late 1600's or early 1700's to Juan Martinez de Alencaster and Maria de Sandoval y Gamboa. His oldest known work is a great mural, signed, dated 1709 and titled Glorificacion de la Orden de la Merced which is on view at the temple of La Merced in Guadalajara, Jalisco. His death was in 1744. He usually signed his work with his name or sometimes with a drawing of Rosary beads (called cuentas in Spanish) to which he added the word "fecit". The permanent collection of the Pinacoteca de la Profesa houses four of his paintings of the Evangelists. His major body of work is now in museums and Cathedrals in or near Guadalajara where he was a resident for most of his life