Statua di Alessandro Volta (Statue of Alessandro Volta), Como

In 1780 Luigi Galvani was tickling frogs' legs with bits of metal. A minute electric current passing through the metals would make the legs twitch. Galvani and his supporters held that electricity was generated by animal tissue. Alessandro Volta of Como disagreed. He set about to prove the little sparks came from differing metals.

The upshot of all this was Volta's revolutionary invention, the Voltaic Pile, the first electrical battery. Volta proved that electricity is generated chemically. Volta's invention stimulated scientific excitement and led others to conduct similar experiments, which led to the development of the field of electrochemistry. The discovery made Volta famous, but he preferred a quiet life. He retired to his country house where he died at age 82.

The monument to Alessandro Volta was erected in Como in 1838. The statue of Volta was sculpted by renowned artist Pompeo Marchesi, while a massive base and pedestal are the work of Francesco Durelli. Volta stands atop the high pedestal in a toga (the loose outer garment worn in public by citizens of ancient Rome). His left-hand holds a book. The right-hand rests on the Voltaic Pile.

An inscription in Italian with Roman numerals on the monument base says "A VOLTA/A HOMELAND 1838 " ( "A VOLTA / A PATRIA/ A MDCCCXXXVIII"). Two bronze tablets in the monument flower bed cite the invention of the Voltaic Pile with the centennial date of 1899.