The most important festive events, both civil and religious, were celebrated with fireworks to enhance the splendour of the celebrations. The visual and acoustic impact achieved with these fireworks surprised and shocked the observers and led to the development of pyrotechnic technology able to achieve the most amazing effects. A less noticed, but particularly striking effect of the fireworks was the olfactory stimulus that the gunpowder triggered in the spectator, which helped to promote the intoxicating atmosphere achieved by the fire that was set off.