Born in Como, Italy in 1702 of noble birth. In Spain, where he arrives fleeing from the Austrian war, he receives broad powers to collect the pension of Moctezuma's descendants in the Royal Cajas of Mexico.
He traveled to New Spain in 1736. During the eight years of his stay he dedicated himself to investigating the apparitions of the Virgin of Guadalupe, gathering considerable graphic and pictographic material. It promotes the crowning of the Guadalupan image, which causes distrust of the viceregal authorities. He is taken prisoner and his collection is stripped. Months later, upon being deported to Spain, he embarks on a ship that falls into the hands of the pirates who abandon him in Gibraltar.
With great works he arrived in Spain and got in touch with the collector Mariano Fernández de Echeverríay Veytia who achieved his acquittal being appointed Royal Chronicler of the Indies, a position that Boturini rejected to dedicate himself to writing about the history of indigenous peoples. Although he never recovered his collection, he wrote the Catalog of the Indian Museum on it. His work is very original and well documented. He died in Madrid on an uncertain date, between 1750 and 1755.
