In Pirotechnia (1558), Vanuzzo Biringuggio describes several ways of making ‘fuochi lavorati’ or fireworks, and he mentions the great skill of the Florentines and Romans in this special art. Their famous ‘castelli’ and ‘girandole’ were built for special festivities, such as Pentecost in Florence or the election of a new Pope in Rome. The custom of using firework displays as a popular expression of joy or ‘allegrezza’, was shared by several Italian towns during the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and Ferrara was no exception. The capital of Este's duchy provides an interesting example of how pyrotechny eventually became independent of popular and Carnival-like displays, and an established feature of court entertainments. Ferrara, one of the liveliest theatrical cities of the Italian Renaissance, provided a fertile ground for the development of firework displays.