He was born in
Altmannstein, where he received his earliest training from his father, then studied in
Munich under the court sculptor
Johann Baptist Straub from 1743 to 1750. His Wanderjahre took him to Salzburg, Olmütz, Vienna, and Mannheim, where he studied with
Paul Egell from 1751 to 1752. Between May and October 1753, he was enrolled in the
Vienna Academy of Fine Arts and won the annual students' competition. In 1754, he started his own workshop in
Munich, where he remained until his death in 1775.[2]
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 16 April 2012.[3]
^The standard monograph is P. Volk, Ignaz Günther (Regensburg, 1991), building upon Adolf Feulner, Ignaz Günther, kurfürstlich bayerischer Hofbildhauer 1725-1775 (Vienna, 1920) and Günther, der große Bildhauer des bayerischen Rokokos (Munich, 1947)