At Issenheim in Alsace, where Matthias Grünewald was employed at the time, Holbein also finds patrons, and contracts to complete an altarpiece.
Entering into the novitiate of the Society of Jesus at Issenheim in Alsace, October 28, 1853, he studied theology at Laval until 1869, when he was ordained priest by Mgr. Wicart, 19 September.