Prímoli, Juan Bautista

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PRÍMOLI, JUAN BAUTISTA

Jesuit missionary and architect; b. Milan, Italy, Oct. 10, 1673; d. Paraguayan Reduction of La Candelaria, Sept. 11, 1747. He entered the Society of Jesus in 1716 and went to Buenos Aires with another architect, Brother Andrés Blanqui. After completing their novitiate in 1719, they began their collaboration. Both were professional architects, and they acted also as builders, working well together. The contention that one worked as the architect, the other as the builder is not true. Together they were responsible for most of the constructions in La Plata during their lifetimes: the cathedrals of Córdoba and Buenos Aires; the churches of La Recoleta; Las Catalinas, San Francisco, and La Merced in Buenos Aires; the Monserrat School in Córdoba; and the Cabildo of Buenos Aires, as well as many churches in the Reductions and many private homes in Buenos Aires, Santa Fe, and Córdoba. They generally adhered to the prevailing style in the country, which had a charming simplicity of line and harmonious proportions. However, when circumstances demanded, they knew how to introduce innovations as in the church of San Francisco in Buenos Aires and the façade (now destroyed) of the cathedral of Buenos Aires.

Bibliography: g. furlong, Arquitectos argentinos durante la dominación hispánica (Buenos Aires 1946).

[g. furlong]