ANDREA BIANCHI. — Missionary and architect, b. 1677 in northern Italy (at Chiamo near Vicenza?), entered in 1716 in Rome the Society of Jesus as a lay brother, and departed the same year for Paraguay. Subsequently assigned to the colleges of Buenos Aires and Córdoba (Tucumán), d. in the latter city on 25 Dec. 1740. A skilled architect, he designed the plans and directed the construction of various churches in Córdoba (El Pilar, S. Francesco...) and worked on the cathedrals of Córdoba and Buenos Aires, mostly with his confrere, the Milanese Giambattista Primoli. His name is often found Hispanized as Blangui.
BIBL.: M. Solá, Historia del arte hispano-americano, Barcelona 1935, p. 256; G. Furlong, Arquitectos argentinos durante la dominación hispánica, Buenos Aires 1946, pp. 149-91.