At the age of 16, Johann Gottfried Steffan completed an apprenticeship in lithography, after which he traveled to Munich for further training with Gottlieb Bodmer. There he took drawing lessons at the Polytechnic and the Royal Art Academy. Together with Rudolf Koller and other Swiss friends, he made numerous trips to the mountains.

He masterfully implemented the impressions he gained in his landscape paintings. Steffan's compositions are characterized by a pleasing and naturalistic conception, which was already very well received during the artist's lifetime. Rocky Landscape near Munich shows a group of monks eating food and reading in the shade of the trees, accompanied by parts a barely visible monastery in the background. ...