# 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

* Bernardino Mei – The Charlatan
* Rembrandt – Jacob Blessing the Sons of Joseph
* Diego Velázquez – Las Meninas (Museo del Prado, Madrid)
* Jan Vermeer – The Procuress (approximate date; Gemäldegalerie, Dresden)

## Births

* April 9 – Francesco Trevisani, Italian painter of frescoes (died 1746)
* April 25 – Giovanni Antonio Burrini, Bolognese painter in late-Baroque or Rococo style (died 1727)
* July 15 – Massimiliano Soldani Benzi, Italian sculptor and medallist (died 1740)
* August 18 – Ferdinando Galli Bibiena, Italian architect, designer, painter and author (died 1743)
* October 10 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (died 1746)
* November – Jacob de Heusch, Dutch painter (died 1701)
* December 11 – Johann Michael Rottmayr, Austrian painter (died 1730)
* date unknown
** Pierre Aveline, French engraver, print-publisher and print-seller (died 1722)
** François Barois, French sculptor (died 1726)
** Simone Brentana, Italian painter of the Baroque period, active in Verona (died 1742)
** Heinrich Charasky, Hungarian sculptor (died 1710)
** José de Cieza, Spanish painter (died 1692)
** Louis de Deyster, Flemish painter of churches and maker of musical instruments (died 1711)
** Sebastiano Galeotti, peripatetic Italian painter of the late-Baroque period (died 1746)
** Maria Oriana Galli-Bibiena, Italian painter (died 1749)
** Willem Wissing, Dutch portrait artist (died 1687)

## Deaths

* April 27
** Gerard van Honthorst, Dutch painter of Utrecht (born 1592)
** Jan van Goyen, Dutch landscape painter (born 1596)
* May 17 - Dirck Hals, Dutch painter of festivals and ballroom scenes (born 1591)
* July 12 - Giovanni Giacomo Barbelli, Italian painter, active in Brescia (born 1604)
* August - Salomon Koninck, Dutch painter of genre scenes, portraits and an engraver (born 1609)
* November 12 - Hendrick van Anthonissen, Dutch marine painter (born 1605)
* December 20 - David Beck, Dutch portrait painter (born 1621)
* December 28 - Laurent de La Hyre, French painter (born 1606)
* date unknown
** Guido Ubaldo Abbatini, Italian painter (born 1600)
** Jacopo Barbello, Italian painter (born 1590)
** Didier Barra, French Renaissance painter (born 1590)
** Gregorio Bausá, Spanish painter (born 1590)
** Remigio Cantagallina, Italian etcher (born 1582)
** Francisco Collantes, Spanish painter (born 1599)
** Maria de Abarca, Spanish painter of large and miniature portraits (born unknown)
** Francesco Francanzano, Italian painter (born 1612; executed for inciting rebellion)
** Francisco Herrera the Elder, Spanish painter and founder of the Seville school for the arts (born 1576)
** Jean Monier, French painter (born 1600)
* victims of Naples Plague
** Bernardo Cavallino, Italian painter working in Naples (born 1616)
** Massimo Stanzione, Italian Caravaggisti painter of frescoes (born 1586)
* probable
** Luigi Miradori, Italian painter, active mainly in Cremona (born 1600/1610)
** Harmen Steenwijck, Dutch painter of still lifes, notably of fruit (born 1612)
* possible - Artemisia Gentileschi, Italian painter (born 1593)