Events from the year 1697 in art.

• December 13 – Tsar Peter the Great of Russia visits Dutch Republic official Jacob de Wilde in Amsterdam to view his art collection, "the beginning of the West European classical tradition in Russia";^[1] a view of the meeting is engraved by Jacob's daughter Maria de Wilde.

• Giovan Battista Caniana – The Crucifixion (Church of Santa Maria and San Giacomo, Romano di Lombardia)
• Adriaen Coorte – Still Life with Shells
• Carlo Maratta – The Baptism of Jesus
• Hyacinthe Rigaud – Portrait of Cardinal Louis Antoine de Noailles
• Hyacinthe Rigaud and Joseph Parrocel – Portrait of Louis, Grand Dauphin
• Painting of Christian V presiding over the Supreme Court of Denmark

• March 30 – Jan Baptist Xavery, Flemish sculptor active in the Netherlands (died 1742)
• April 12 – Anton Pichler, Tyrolean goldsmith and artist of engraved gems (died 1779)
• June 22 – Pierre-Imbert Drevet, French portrait engraver (died 1739)
• June 25 – Peter van Bleeck, portrait painter and engraver (died 1764)
• October 28
  • Giovanni Antonio Canal, better known as Canaletto, Venetian artist famous for his landscapes, or vedute, of Venice (died 1768)
  • Johann Gottfried Auerbach, Austrian painter (died 1753)
• November 10 – William Hogarth, English engraver and painter credited with pioneering western sequential art (died 1764)
• date unknown
  • Bernard Accama or Bernardus, Dutch historical and portrait painter, born in Friesland (died 1756)
  • Francesco Andreini, Italian painter (died 1751)
  • Helena Arnell, one of the first Finnish painters and few female artists (died 1751)
  • Claude François Devosge, French sculptor and architect (died 1777)
  • Johann Christian Fiedler, German portrait painter (died 1765)
  • Antonio Gionima, Italian painter (died 1732)
  • Michele Pagano, Italian painter of landscapes or vedutista (died 1732)
  • Giovanni Battista Tagliasacchi, Italian painter of historical scenes and portraits (died 1737)
  • Cornelis Troost – Dutch painter from Amsterdam (died 1750)

• April 4
  • Jan de Bray, Dutch painter (born 1627)
  • Andrea Carlone, Italian painter (born 1626)
• June 11 – Abraham Begeyn, Dutch painter of landscapes and cattle (born 1637)
• December 31 – Lucas Faydherbe, Dutch sculptor and architect (born 1617)
• date unknown
  • Ludovico Gimignani, Italian painter, active mainly in Rome (born 1643)
  • Muin Musavvir, Persian miniaturist during the Safavid period (born 1638)
  • Mei Qing, Chinese landscape painter, calligrapher, and poet during the Qing Dynasty (born 1623)
  • Claudine Bouzonnet-Stella, French engraver (born 1636)
  • Giulio Cesare Venenti, Italian painter of landscapes and engraver (born 1609)