 Straub was born in Wiesensteig in Germany and studied in Munich, but he spent most of his career in Austria, first in Vienna, where he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, and then in Graz, where in 1730 he joined the workshop of the sculptor Johann Jakob Schoy (1686–1733).In 1733, upon the death of Schoy, Straub married the widow of his mentor and took over his workshop.He remained in Graz for the rest of his life.