Events from the year 1678 in art.

• Louis Chéron wins the Prix de Rome for a second time.

• Gianlorenzo Bernini - the Tomb of Pope Alexander VII (completed during this year)
• Albrecht Kauw - Still Life
• Murillo - The Immaculate Conception and The Christ Child Distributing Bread to Pilgrims
• Ary de Vois - The scholar Adriaan van Beverland with a prostitute

• June 3 - Domenico Antonio Vaccaro, Italian painter, sculptor and architect (died 1745)
• date unknown
  • Giovanni Francesco Bagnoli, Italian painter of still-life paintings (died 1713)
  • Antonio Baroni, Italian painter active in Verona (died 1746)
  • Carlo Bolognini, Italian painter of quadratura (died 1704)
  • François Coudray, French sculptor (died 1727)
  • Tommaso Dossi, Italian painter from Verona (died 1730)
  • Alexis Grimou, French painter (died 1733)
  • Bernardo Schiaffino, Italian sculptor (died 1725)
  • Alonso Miguel de Tovar, Spanish painter (died 1758)

• January 29 - Giulio Carpioni, Italian painter and etcher (born 1613)
• January 20 - Antonio de Pereda, Spanish painter (born 1611)
• April 13 - Pieter van Anraedt, Dutch Golden Age painter of history scenes (born 1635)
• April 22 - Sebastiano Mazzoni, Italian who painted with unresolved dynamism and from awkward perspectives (born 1611)
• June
  • Pieter Jansz van Asch, Dutch painter (born 1603)
  • Otto Marseus van Schrieck, Dutch painter (born 1619)
• July 26 - Orsola Maddalena Caccia, Italian woman painter (b. unknown)
• September 1 - Jan Brueghel the Younger, Flemish painter (born 1601)
• September 8 - Pietro della Vecchia, Italian painter of grotesque paintings and portraitures (born 1603)
• October - Caesar van Everdingen, Dutch portrait painter (born 1616/1617)
• October 12 - Pieter Codde, Dutch painter of genre works (born 1599)
• October 18 - Jacob Jordaens, Flemish painter (born 1593)
• October 19 - Samuel Dirksz van Hoogstraten, Dutch painter (born 1627)
• November 20 - Karel Dujardin, Dutch animal and landscape painter (born 1626)
• December 9 - Jürgen Ovens, German painter (born 1623)
• date unknown
  • Dominique Barrière, French painter and engraver (born 1622)
  • Marco Boschini, Italian painter in Venice (born 1613)
  • Pierre Daret, French portrait painter and engraver (born 1604)
  • Bernabé de Ayala, Spanish historical painter (born 1600)
  • Domenico de Benedettis, Italian painter (born 1610)
  • Vicente Salvador Gómez, Spanish Baroque painter (born 1637)
  • Giulio Cesare Milani, Italian painter (born 1621)
  • Giacomo Torelli, Italian set designer and engraver (born 1608)
  • Giovanni Battista Falda, Italian engraver especially of contemporary and antique structures in Rome (born 1640)
  • Matthew Snelling, English miniature painter (born 1621)
  • Pieter Hermansz Verelst, Dutch Golden Age genre art painter (born 1618)
• probable
  • Domenico Ambrogi, Italian painter from Bologna (born 1600)
  • Cornelis de Neve, Flemish portrait painter (born unknown)