1579 in art

Events

• The painter Giovanni Battista Paggi is said to have mortally wounded a patron, and is forced to flee his home city of Genoa.
• The Da Zhao Temple is built in inner Mongolia. Its art treasures include a 10 ft silver Sakyamuni buddha statue.

Works

• Federico Barocci paints the Madonna del Popolo.
• El Greco completes The Disrobing of Christ.
• Giambologna begins the Rape of the Sabine Women, a remarkable example of Mannerist sculpture.
• George Gower paints a self-portrait.
• Plimpton Sieve Portrait of Queen Elizabeth

Births

• November 7 - Juan de Peñalosa, Spanish painter of altarpieces, a priest and poet
• November 11 - Frans Snyders, Flemish still-life master, apprenticed in 1593 to Pieter II Brueghel
• date unknown
• *Trophime Bigot, French painter
• *Carlo Saraceni, Italian early-Baroque painter of landscapes, cabinet paintings, and altarpieces
• probable - Ottavio Viviani, Italian painter of quadratura

Deaths

• February 5 - Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian portrait painter
• March 28 - Juan Fernández Navarrete, Spanish Mannerist painter
• October 15 - Marcello Venusti, Italian Mannerist painter primarily in Rome
• October 24 - Albert V, Duke of Bavaria, art patron and collector
• November 21 - Cipriano Piccolpasso, Italian painter of majolica
• December 21 – Juan Vicente Macip, Spanish painter of the Renaissance period
• date unknown
• *Giovanni Bernardo Lama, Italian painter
• *Andrew Mansioun, French woodcarver and engraver at the court of King James V of Scotland
• *Filippo Negroli, Italian armourer