Events from the year 1608 in art.

Events

• August - Caravaggio is arrested and imprisoned for his part in a brawl.^[1] He subsequently escapes and flees Malta.
• December 1 - The senior Knights of Malta, after verifying that Caravaggio has failed to appear before them although summoned four times, vote unanimously to expel their putridum et foetidum ex-brother.
• Hendrick Avercamp moves from Amsterdam to Kampen.
• Mesrop of Khizan paints a Gospel.

Paintings

• 
  Caravaggio, The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
• 
  Caravaggio, Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli
• 
  Caravaggio, Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page
• 
  Caravaggio, John the Baptist (St John the Baptist at the Fountain)
• 
  Caravaggio, Annunciation
• 
  Caravaggio, Burial of St. Lucy
• 
  Caravaggio, Sleeping Cupid

• Hendrick Avercamp - Winter Landscape with Iceskaters (approximate date)
• Caravaggio
  • The Beheading of Saint John the Baptist
  • Portrait of Fra Antonio Martelli
  • Portrait of Alof de Wignacourt and his Page (1607–08)
  • Sleeping Cupid
  • John the Baptist (St John the Baptist at the Fountain)
  • Annunciation
  • Burial of St. Lucy
• Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger - Portrait of a boy aged two
• Frans Pourbus the Younger - Marguerite of Savoy, Duchess of Gonzaga, Duchess of Mantua
• Carlo Saraceni - Landscape with Salmacis and Hermaphroditus (approximate date)

Births

• April/May - Pieter Post, Dutch architect, painter and printmaker (died 1669)
• October 30 - Lazzaro Morelli, sculptor (died 1690)
• date unknown
  • Salvi Castellucci, Italian painter active in Arezzo (died 1672)
  • Niccolo Laniere, Italian painter and engraver (died 1646)
  • Willem de Poorter, Dutch painter (died 1648)
  • Francisco Salmerón, Spanish painter (died 1632)
  • Giacomo Torelli, Italian set designer and engraver (died 1678)
  • Pieter van Abeele, Dutch medallist and coiner in Amsterdam (died 1684)
  • Abraham Wuchters, Dutch-Danish painter and engraver (died 1682)
• (born 1608/1612): Giovanni Stefano Danedi, Italian painter of frescoes (died 1690)

Deaths

• June - Bernardo Buontalenti, Italian stage designer, architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and artist (born 1536)
• June 5 - Ippolito Andreasi, Italian painter (born 1548)
• July 26 - Pablo de Céspedes, Spanish painter, poet, and architect (born 1538)
• August 13 - Giambologna, Flemish sculptor of marble and bronze statuary working in Italy (born 1529)
• October 11 – Giovanni Ambrogio Figino, Italian painter (born c.1549/1551)
• October 26 - Juan Pantoja de la Cruz, Spanish painter (born 1553)
• November 14 - Bartolomeo Carducci, Italian painter (born 1560)
• date unknown
  • Felice Damiani, Italian painter of religious themed works and altarpieces (born 1584)
  • Kanō Mitsunobu, Japanese painter of the Kanō school (born unknown)
  • Pieter van der Borcht the Elder, Flemish Renaissance painter and etcher (born 1535 or 1545)
  • Alessandro Vittoria, Italian Mannerist sculptor of the Venetian school (born 1525)

References