Jean Cousin the Elder

Jean Cousin (* 1490 in Soucy at Sens; † around 1560/61 in Paris) was a French painter, sculptor and graphic artist.

Life

Jean Cousin, who was born about 1490 in Soucy at Sens, began his career in his hometown. He studied painting under glass and Jean Hympe Grassot. In 1530 he finished the work on the glass windows of the cathedral of Sens, representing the legend of St. Eutropius. He also painted windows in the castles around Sens.

1540 drew Jean Cousin to Paris, where he continued his career as a glass painter and his most famous work, the windows of the palace chapel in Vincennes, created. He also created templates for tapestries and painted oil paintings. Jean Cousin is also known as a graphic artist and book illustrator.

Jean Cousin the Elder enjoyed during his lifetime an international reputation and is one of the most important representatives of the French Renaissance painting. His son Jean Cousin the Younger was also active as a painter, sculptor and graphic artist.

Works (selection)

• Eva Prima Pandora, 1549, Louvre, Paris
• Window into two chapels of the cathedral of Sens, before 1530, and the chapel of Vincennes, 1552
• Templates for 8 rugs on the history of St. Genevieve of Paris, in 1541, and for 8 rugs for the life of St. Mamas, 1543.
• Book Illustrations: Orus Apollo, 1543, and the Livre des coutumes of Sens, 1556
• Livre de Perspective, theoretical work on the perspective of teaching