1578 in art

• March 8 - On the death of Elisabeth of Brandenburg-Küstrin, her husband, Margrave George Frederick I of Brandenburg-Ansbach-Kulmbach commissions a monument by Willem van Bloche. ==Works==

• George Gower – Lady Philippa Coningsby • Cornelis Ketel – Portraits • Richard Goodricke of Ribston • Thomas Pead ==Births==

• March 17 – Francesco Albani, Italian painter (died 1660) • August 10 – Matteo Rosselli, Italian painter of historical paintings in the late Florentine and early Baroque (died 1650) • October 12 – Baldassare Aloisi, Italian portrait painter and engraver (died 1638) • date unknown • Jan Baptist Barbé, Flemish engraver (died 1649) • Battistello Caracciolo, Italian painter (died 1635) • Agostino Ciampelli, Italian fresco painter (died 1640) • Adam Elsheimer, German "cabinet" painter (died 1610) • Fede Galizia, Italian still life painter (died 1630) • Ottavio Leoni, Italian painter and printmaker (died 1630) • Francisco Lopez Caro, Spanish painter (died 1662) • Bartolomeo Schedoni, Italian painter (died 1615) • Jean Toutin, French enamel worker, one of the first artists to make enamel portrait miniatures (died 1644) • Alessandro Turchi, Italian painter (died 1649) • Hieronymus Francken II, Flemish painter (d. unknown) • Francesco Stringa, Italian court painter for Duke Ranuccio I Farnese (died 1615) • probable • Guy François, French painter (died 1650) • Iwasa Matabei, Japanese painter (died 1650) • Pieter Neeffs I, Flemish Baroque painter who specialized in architectural interiors of churches (died 1656) • Gerrit van Bloclant, Dutch Renaissance painter (died 1650) ==Deaths==

• January 5 – Giulio Clovio, Croatian illustrator and miniaturist (born 1498) • February 5 – Giovanni Battista Moroni, Italian Mannerist painter (born 1520/1524) • March 17 - Cornelis Cort, Dutch engraver and draughtsman (born 1533) • August 28 - Giovanni Battista Zelotti, Italian painter (born 1526) • October 13 - Jean Bullant, French sculptor and architect (born 1515) • Date unknown • Pierre Lamo, Italian history painter • Bernardino Lanini, Italian Renaissance painter active mainly in Milan (born 1511) (probable date) • Benedetto Pagni, Italian painter • Qian Gu, Chinese landscape painter during the Ming Dynasty (born c.1508) (approximate date) • Raffaellino da Reggio, Italian Mannerist painter (born 1550) ==Footnotes==