Sculpture Saturday gives us the Monument of Alessandro Volta (1745 – 1827).  The monument was erected 1838. It stands in Piazza Alessandro Volta in picturesque Como, Italy, Volta’s hometown. I took the photo in November 2019. It was by far the best day of a rainy and cold week in the Milano area.

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Alessandro Volta Monument

The statue and base are the works of Italian artists Pompeo Marchesi and Francesco Durelli, respectively. Volta holds a book in his left hand and rests the right one on his most famous invention, the Voltaic pile.

Volta invented the pile in 1799. It was the first electric battery. It proved that electricity could be generated chemically and is credited with debunking the prevailing theory that electricity was generated solely by living beings.  The volt, a measure of electrical potential, was named in his honor.

It is interesting that the prevailing theory of the time was that electricity was generated solely by living organisms. For one thing, in 1752, Benjamin Franklin conducted experiments where he flew a kite in a thunderstorm and collected electrical charge from lightning in a Leyden jar.

Thanks for visiting. I hope all are having a great weekend.