During the last decades the historical informed performance practice has gained attention not only concerning music research but also concerning the other arts which are involved in performing music theatre. Among others, the light and stage design, including costumes, as well as the stage technology of the past has been investigated. What has been omitted is the body language of the actors which was very different from modern customs. Especially in the case of Wagner the role of the gesture is an important issue. Wagner had the habit to create his music often in close connection with the physical delivery of the singer. Some parts of his scores turn out to be enlarged contemporary theatre gestures and he was eager to rehearse the gestural embodiment of his characters thoroughly with his singers. For illustrating the historical distance of modern theatre to the gesture of the Wagner era, I will present musiciconographical, verbal and filmic sources which allow us to get a glimpse of the performance practice in the 19th century. Understanding the characteristics of 19th-century acting means to understand both central aspects about the shape and the aesthetics of Wagner’s works.