Events from the year 1686 in art.

• Pierre Granier is commissioned to provide a new right arm for the recently discovered Jupiter de Smyrne.
• Bogdan Saltanov becomes head of the painting workshop of the Kremlin Armoury.

• Benedetto Gennari – The Death of Cleopatra
• Jacques Rousseau – Wall paintings at Montagu House, Bloomsbury (now lost)
• (three artists) – Hanging painting of the Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva (Gwaneumbodhisavtta) at the Geumdangsa, South Korea
• (workshop of Grinling Gibbons) – Statue of James II

• March 7 – Francesco Antonio Xaverio Grue, Italian potter and painter (died 1746)
• March 17 – Jean-Baptiste Oudry, French Rococo painter, engraver and tapestry designer (died 1755)
• May 30 – Antonina Houbraken, Dutch printmaker and drafter (died 1736)
• August 8 – Wenzel Lorenz Reiner, Czech Baroque painter (died 1743)
• August 18 – Peter von Bemmel, German landscape painter and etcher (died 1754)
• August 27 – Agostino Cornacchini, Italian sculptor and painter (died 1754)
• September 29 – Cosmas Damian Asam, German painter and architect during the late Baroque period (died 1739)
• October 15 – Alessandro Galli Bibiena, Italian architect/painter (died 1748)
• date unknown
  • Gerhard Bockman, Dutch portrait painter and mezzotint engraver (died 1773)
  • Carlo Carlone, Italian painter (died 1775)
  • Antonio Consetti, Italian historical painter (died 1766)
  • Louise-Magdeleine Horthemels, French engraver (died 1767)
  • François Hutin, French painter, sculptor and engraver (died 1758)
  • Giovanni Pietro Ligario, Italian painter of historical pictures for churches and private collections (died 1748)
  • Okumura Masanobu, Japanese print designer, book publisher and painter (died 1764)
  • Wang Shishen, Chinese painter (died 1759)
  • Zou Yigui, Chinese Qing dynasty painter (died 1772)
  • Zhang Zongcang, Chinese Qing dynasty painter (died 1756)
• probable – Li Shan, Chinese painter (died 1756)

• January 2 – Frederik de Moucheron, Dutch Golden Age landscape painter (born 1633)
• January 17 – Carlo Dolci, Italian painter of chiefly sacred subjects (born 1616)
• February 5 – Matthias Rauchmiller, German sculptor active in Vienna (born 1645)
• May – Jacques d'Arthois, Flemish Baroque painter specializing in landscapes (born 1613)
• June 25 – Simon Ushakov, Russian painter (born 1626)
• July 11 – Michel Anguier, French sculptor (born 1612)
• date unknown
  • Antonio Busca, Italian painter active in Lombardy (born 1625)
  • Carlo Cesio, Italian painter active in Rome (born 1626)
  • Nicolas Cochin, French draughtsman and engraver (born 1610)
  • Giovanni Battista Marmi, Italian painter (born 1659)
  • Pieter Pietersz Nedek, Dutch Golden Age painter (born 1616)
  • Antonio Raggi, Italian sculptor (born 1624)
  • Dirk Stoop, Dutch Golden Age painter (born 1615)