[Lodewijk] [Cousin, Louis; Gentile] (b Breivelde, Ninove, c. 1606; d Brussels, c. 1667–8). Flemish painter, active in Italy. He was apprenticed to Gillis Claeissins the younger (d 1622) in Brussels in 1617 but left the southern Netherlands while still young. According to Sandrart, he continued his studies in Paris and was in Rome as early as 1626, when he was received into the Schildersbent, the association of northern painters in Rome, under the bent-name ‘Gentile’. In 1635 he joined the confraternity of S Giuliano dei Belgi, as ‘Ludovicus Cousin, alias Primo, alias Gentile’. Three years later he became a member of the Accademia di S Luca, of which he was principal in 1651–2. A few of the altarpieces he painted for Roman churches between 1633 and 1657 can still be seen in situ (e.g. Virgin Presenting the Child to St Anthony of Padua, 1655; S Marco). He also painted mythological subjects such as the Death of Adonis (c. 1656; Vienna, Ksthist. Mus.) and was highly appreciated as a portrait painter (he is recorded as painting a portrait of Pope Alexander VII shortly after his election in 1655). After more than 30 years in Rome, Primo returned to Brussels and joined the local guild of painters in 1661. He continued to produce history paintings and portraits, and possibly also made cartoons for the Brussels tapestry-weavers. He had several pupils, including Jan van Cleef (1646-1716). Halfway between the Italian and the Flemish tradition, Primo is a typical example of the lofty, somewhat tediously decorative style of the High Baroque.

• Primo, Luigi
  • Bie, Cornelis de
  • Schildersbent