1808 in art

Events

* May 2 and May 3, In Spain the guerilla resistance movement against the French forces of Napoleon Bonaparte begins; immortalized in 1814 by Francisco Goya's "Third of May 1808."
* December 20 - The original Covent Garden Theatre in London is destroyed by a fire, along with most of the scenery, costumes and scripts.
* December 22 - Ludwig van Beethoven conducts and performs in concert at the Theater an der Wien, Vienna, with the premiere of his Fifth Symphony, Sixth Symphony, and Fourth Piano Concerto (performed by Beethoven himself).

*John James Audubon marries Lucy Bakewell.
*The Rijksmuseum moves from The Hague to Amsterdam.
*Thomas Phillips is elected to the Royal Academy.
*Publication of Johann Dominicus Fiorillo's "Geschichte der zeichnenden Künste".

Works

*William Blake - "Satan Watching the Endearments of Adam and Eve"
*François Joseph Bosio - Statue of Cupid with a bow (Hermitage Museum)
*Antoine-Jean Gros - "Napoleon on the battlefield of Preussisch-Eylau"
*Edouard Pingret - Portrait of Napoleon I of France

Births

*February 5 - Carl Spitzweg, painter (d. 1885)
*February 26 - Honoré Daumier, painter, sculptor and illustrator (d. 1879)

Deaths

*April 15 - Hubert Robert, painter (b. 1733)
*December 4 - Karl Ludwig Fernow, art critic (b. 1763)
* Hugh Douglas Hamilton - Irish portrait artist (b. 1734/1739)
* Magdalene Bärens, Danish still life painter (b. 1737)
* Anton von Maron - Austrian painter active in Rome (b. 1733)