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Volta Presents his Invention to Napoleon, 1801

Colour woodcut of a man demonstrating sparking electrical apparatus to a group of men in 19th-century formal dress, including a seated Napoleon Bonaparte.

Wikimedia Commons

An illustration from the 1901 Le Petit Journal showing Alessandro Volta demonstrating his “electrical pile” to Napoleon Bonaparte in 1801. Volta and Bonaparte were lifelong friends and corresponded frequently by mail; in 1810, Bonaparte named Volta a count for his services to French science.