A spectacular allegorical firework display, which was set off on the Vienna bastions on 8 December 1666, was the prelude to the wedding celebrations of Emperor Leopold I and the Spanish Infanta Margarita Teresa. Using music, pantomime, ballet and numerous scenic elements, it was designed as a three-part pyrotechnical spectacle. In each of the three acts, a different part of the firework decoration was illuminated and the corresponding rockets and fireworks were set off with a lot of noise and various, not only pleasant, odours.

As a kind of “prologue”, Mercury, the messenger of the gods, appeared with the wedding torch to express his joy at the marriage. In the first act of the spectacle, a firework decoration in the form of a high mountain was lit, representing Mount Etna with the forge of the god Vulcan and the Cyclops. Cupid, the god of love, chased them out of their cave and broke the weapons they had forged: instead, he forged a golden wedding ring for the imperial couple. Afterwards, Mount Parnassus on the other side burst into flames of joy, and the personifications of the nine muses praised the victory of love and the new marriage between members of the House of Habsburg.
In the second part of the firework display, the battle between Hercules and the centaurs was pantomimed. Hercules won, emphasising the emperor's role in establishing peace and order, which was to become even more important through his marriage to his Spanish niece. In the third act, the temple of the wedding god Hymenaeus was illuminated, on whose altar an eagle sent by Jupiter lit a fire. A phoenix appeared above the temple, symbolising the emperor who sacrificed himself for his subjects. At the end, the allegorical fireworks display paid a final tribute to the imperial family with all the visual, acoustic and olfactory means at its disposal.

While the detailed printed description of the festive event shows the three individual parts in separate engravings, all three acts appear together in one image on an independently published broadsheet.