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Events from the year 1581 in art.

• September 19 – Arnold Bronckhorst is appointed first court painter to James VI of Scotland.
• Construction of the Uffizi in Florence as magistrates' offices, designed by Giorgio Vasari and continued by Alfonso Parigi the Elder and Bernardo Buontalenti, is completed.

• Anonymous – Portrait of Dorothy and Penelope Devereux (approximate date)
• Antonio Campi – The Martyrdom of St. Lawrence ( San Paolo Converso, Milan)
• Lavinia Fontana
  • Deposition
  • Noli me tangere
• Nicholas Hilliard – Portrait miniature of Sir Francis Drake

• October 21 – Domenico Zampieri, Baroque Italian painter (died 1641) ^[1]
• December 27 - Jean Chalette, French miniature and portrait painter (died 1643)
• date unknown
  • Johan Bara, Dutch painter, designer and engraver (died 1634)
  • Frans Francken the Younger, Flemish painter (died 1642)
  • Cornelis Liefrinck, Dutch painter (died 1652) ^[2]
  • Abraham Matthijs, Flemish Baroque painter (died 1649)
  • Fillide Melandroni, Italian courtesan, model for Caravaggio (died 1618)
  • Panfilo Nuvolone, Italian Mannerist painter (died 1651)
  • Carlo Sellitto, Italian Caravaggisti painter (died 1614)
  • Artus Wolffort, Flemish painter (died 1641)
• probable
  • Bernardo Strozzi, Italian painter (died 1644)

• September 19 - Frans Pourbus the Elder, Flemish Renaissance painter primarily of religious and portraits (born 1545)
• date unknown
  • Girolamo Comi, Italian Renaissance painter (born 1507)