born Nov. 22, 1725, Altmannstein, Bavaria

died June 26, 1775, Munich

sculptor who was one of the leading Rococo artists in Germany. His career was centred in Munich, where he settled in 1754. Most of his sculpture was carved from wood and then polychromed by others. Stylistically, his often ecstatic figures are characterized by elegant gestures, elongated proportions, and the angular arrangement of the folds of their clothing or drapery. Among the finest of his sculptures are the Annunciation and Pietà (1764) in the abbey church at Weyarn, Bavaria; the statues in the church at Rott-am-Inn, Bavaria; the famed Guardian Angel in the Bürgersaal, Munich (1763); and the Pietà in the cemetery chapel at Nenningen, Bavaria (1774).