1656 in art
Events from the year 1656 in art.
Events
- March-December - Naples Plague kills many artists there.
- Rembrandt, facing bankruptcy, is forced to arrange sale of most of his paintings and collection of antiquities.
Works
Image:Jan Vermeer van Delft 002.jpg|thumb|Vermeer – The Procuress. The figure on the left has been called Vermeer's self-portrait.- Bernardino Mei – The Charlatan
- Rembrandt – Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph
- Diego Velázquez – Las Meninas
- Jan Vermeer – ''The Procuress''
Births
- April 9 – Francesco Trevisani, Italian painter of frescoes
- April 25 – Giovanni Antonio Burrini, Bolognese painter in late-Baroque or Rococo style
- July 15 – Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, Italian sculptor and medallist
- August 18 – Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, Italian architect, designer, painter and author
- October 10 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter
- November – Jacob de Heusch, Dutch painter
- December 11 – Johann Michael Rottmayr, Austrian painter
- date unknown
- *Pierre Aveline, French engraver, print-publisher and print-seller
- *François Barois, French sculptor
- *Simone Brentana, Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Verona
- *Heinrich Charasky, Hungarian sculptor
- *José de Cieza, Spanish painter
- *Louis de Deyster, Flemish painter of churches and maker of musical instruments
- *Sebastiano Galeotti, peripatetic Italian painter of the late-Baroque period
- *Maria Oriana Galli-Bibiena, Italian painter
- *Willem Wissing, Dutch portrait artist
Deaths
- April 27
- *Gerard van Honthorst, Dutch painter of Utrecht
- *Jan van Goyen, Dutch landscape painter
- May 17 - Dirck Hals, Dutch painter of festivals and ballroom scenes
- July 12 - Giovanni Giacomo Barbelli, Italian painter, active in Brescia
- August - Salomon Koninck, Dutch painter of genre scenes, portraits and an engraver
- November 12 - Hendrick van Anthonissen, Dutch marine painter
- December 20 - David Beck, Dutch portrait painter
- December 28 - Laurent de La Hyre, French painter
- date unknown
- *Guido Ubaldo Abbatini, Italian painter
- *Jacopo Barbello, Italian painter
- *Didier Barra, French Renaissance painter
- *Gregorio Bausá, Spanish painter
- *Remigio Cantagallina, Italian etcher
- *Francisco Collantes, Spanish painter
- *Maria de Abarca, Spanish painter of large and miniature portraits
- *Francesco Francanzano, Italian painter
- *Francisco Herrera the Elder, Spanish painter and founder of the Seville school for the arts
- *Jean Monier, French painter
- victims of Naples Plague
- *Bernardo Cavallino, Italian painter working in Naples
- *Massimo Stanzione, Italian Caravaggisti painter of frescoes
- probable
- *Luigi Miradori, Italian painter, active mainly in Cremona
- *Harmen Steenwijck, Dutch painter of still lifes, notably of fruit
- possible - Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter