Firewor•s.—Pyrotechnic displays constituted another class of enter tainments; these reached their enlinination about the close of the seven teenth century. Attempts were made at an early period to use gunpowder for other than hostile purposes. We find the elements of the pyrotechnic art as early as the fifteenth century. The next age was not satisfied with the mere contrast of light and darkness or the play of colors. The pas sion of the age for allegorical scenes found expression also in displays of fireworks. The manner in which these were carried out can be most readily understood from the description of our illustration (pl. 45, jr. 4), a scene from the festivities given by the elector John George II. at the assembly of the royal family of Saxony in Dresden.
The piece is intended to represent the battle of Hercules with Cerberus and the gods of the nether world—a subject which presented many oppor tunities for fine effects of light. An explanation in verse declares that the god who had freed the world from monsters had come to Dresden to deliver the good city from its vices. The contest was dramatically represented by means of automata in six scenes. The booming of cannon and firing of rockets and crackers initiated the display, enlivened the interludes, and completed the performance. The alternately advancing and receding figures breathed forth flames of fire, while Hercules brandished his club and the Furies shook their glowing serpents. In our picture the hero is seen rushing with a blazing torch upon the Furies, who occupy the plat form, which is surmounted by three revolving wheels of fire, while his earthly companions in Roman costume stand opposite Cerberus and the mouth of hell, where they are opposed by a similar number of devils in the form of satyrs. The most effective scene must have been the last, when Hercules forced the gates of hell, which vomited forth against him tongues of flame and balls of fire.
and better field for allegorical display was offered by masquerades, which formed a frequent part in entertainments, and in which mechanical devices and fantastically dressed persons achieved wonderful effects. Olympus, the three regions ruled by the superior gods;' the seasons, the divisions of the globe, the races of mankind, the elements, the Virtues and the Vices, the arts, and whatever of positive or theoretical knowledge could be represented, furnished scope for mechanical ingenuity. The allegorical figures, made of wood and other material and supplied with masks, were grouped upon wagons with concealed wheels and drawn by richly-caparisoned horses.
The the seventeenth century the theatre had become so far developed that it began to contribute to the popular amusement. Its origin, however, was far earlier. Even the Middle Ages had their mysteries and moralities, which presented to the pious spectators scenes from the Old and New Testaments and other devout subjects. These con tinued in use in the Jesuit schools long after the secular drama had devel oped from them and found a stage for itself outside the Church and the school. The drama was too inviting a field to be monopolized for pious uses. The secular spirit of wit and humor recognized its possibilities, and we thus find incipient comic performances in the mummeries, carni vals, and similar festivities. Moreover, even on serious occasions the drama was too full of vigorous life to be confined to abstract, dogmatic, or moral subjects; and hence we find as early as the fifteenth century secular elements even in clerical compositions, and toward the end of that century satire intermingled in what had now become more developed dramatic form.
The merit of having systematized the rude and often obscene carnival farces, and of thus having at least formally founded the German drama, belongs to Hans Sachs, though the poetical merit which has been ascribed to his dramatic works is merely a complimentary judgment of his patri otic countrymen. We shall omit the mention of his successors, because the contemporary appearance of Shakespeare not only overshadowed all workers in this line, but sets at naught all the calculations of the histo rian of civilization.
The first stage was a mere scaffolding of boards. The actors were ama teurs, and female parts were for a long time taken by boys. The first German theatre was built by the Meistersingers of Nuremberg in 1550 It consisted of a covered stage. The spectators occupied seats in the open air, though privileged persons were seated at the sides on the stage itself.
Professional actors appear about the end of the sixteenth century and at the beginning of the seventeenth. Each royal court had its troupe. English actors, who were more proficient and advanced than their conti nental fellows, had already visited Germany and the Netherlands, and no doubt contributed to the more rapid growth of the stage in those coun tries. That in some cities the civic hall was used for dramatic perform ances shows the importance which the drama was attaining.