Ignaz Günther

Who was Ignaz Günther?

Ignaz Günther was a German sculptor and woodcarver working in the Bavarian Rococo tradition.

He was born in Altmannstein, Germany, where he received his earliest training from his father, then studied in Munich under the court sculptor Johann Baptist Straub from 1743 to 1750 and during his Wanderjahren that also took him to Salzburg, Olmütz, and Vienna, under Paul Egell in Mannheim from 1751 to 1752. Between May and October 1753, he worked at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and won the annual students' competition. In 1754, he started his own workshop in Munich, where he died.

He is best remembered for his work in churches, especially his altars.

A wooden crucifix styled by Günther was given by the official Bavarian civil and ecclesiastical delegation as an 85th birthday gift to Pope Benedict XVI, a native of Bavaria, on Monday, April 16, 2012.