Jean Cousin the Elder and the Creation of the Tapestries of Saint Mamas

Abstract

According to Anthony Blunt, Jean Cousin the Elder was the most important of the painters working independently of the School of Fontainebleau. In 1543–44 he executed cartoons, no longer extant, for the tapestries of Saint Mamas.1 Since the tapestries by this French artist reflect his cartoons, at present his only documented and dated works, they are of utmost significance.2 The fundamental publication regarding the tapestries and their documents is that of Maurice Roy.3 Earlier publications connected with Cousin's works include attributions now considered erroneous and do not effectively discuss the problem of the tapestry panels.4 Since Roy's publication, the tapestries of Saint Mamas have not been subjected to a thorough investigation. The small number of securely attributed works by Jean Cousin the Elder as well as the considerable uncertainty surrounding other attributions to the artist create a complex situation.5 Adding to the problem is the confusion that exists between Jean Cousin the Elder and his son, Jean Cousin the Younger, whose separate identities were discovered by Maurice Roy only in 1909.6 In this article I propose to identify a drawing, the Martyrdom of a Saint (Fig. 4), attributed to Jean Cousin, as a project for one of the Saint Mamas tapestries.7 I shall also discuss various iconographic and stylistic elements in the panels.