 Johannes Zick was born in 1702 in Lachen, part of the territory of the Prince-Abbot of Kempten in the Unterallgäu in modern-day Bavaria, where he started his career as a blacksmith in his father's workshop.From 1721 to 1724, he was apprenticed to the Konstanz court painter Jacob Carl Stauder.They both painted the frescoes on the ceiling of the church Mariahilf in Munich.