The Artists’ Carnival in the Muenchener Kindl Keller at Munich

The Munich Artists’ Carnival Festival, which takes place annually just before Lent, is considered one of the most brilliant of the carnival merrymakings in Germany. The idea of the performance (which we illustrate in this issue) was “Tales from Fairyland” but the characters by no means confined themselves to fairyland as we understand it. Pharaoh, Greek warriors, Don Quixote, and other eccentric characters mingled with fairies, elves, and gnomes, and some three thousand masks took part in the festivities. One of the principal attractions of the evening was the gigantic head of the Sphinx, inside of which the actors of a variety theatre gave the strangest performances. Our illustration represents the Sphinx and the Egyptian Temple, in front of which, surrounded by a wild and fantastic crowd, some ghosts are playing the accompaniment to the performance of an Oriental dance. Our engraving is from a drawing by Mr. Paul Hey.