In February 1778, Naples saw the installation of its first lightning rod, thanks to the initiative of Ascanio Filomarino, Duke of La Torre. Inspired by the principles of Benjamin Franklin, the device was mounted on the home of Giovanni Carpintero, marking the city’s entry into electrical modernity and a new culture of scientific prevention.
This pioneering installation was soon followed by others: on the British embassy residence at Palazzo Sessa near today’s Piazza dei Martiri, commissioned by the English envoy William Hamilton; on the Palazzo Caramanico in Via Medina; and on Palazzo Doria d’Angri at Largo Santo Spirito. The presence of atmospheric conductors on both public and private buildings reflected a growing trust in science as a tool for urban protection and rational planning.
The spread of lightning rods was supported by the publication of the treatise Clear Instructions for Constructing and Raising Safe Conductors, translated from English by Felice Sabatelli, professor of astronomy at the University of Naples, and printed in 1794. Brought to Naples through the mediation of Lord Hamilton, the text offered practical guidance for building and installing conductors, helping to promote their acceptance in both urban and scientific circles.
A striking visual example of the lightning rod’s adoption appears in Gaetano Gigante’s painting Via Toledo from Piazza dello Spirito Santo, where a conductor is clearly visible atop Palazzo Doria d’Angri. This seemingly minor detail reveals how technology became integrated into daily life and the architectural imagination of nineteenth-century Naples. The device also appears in the famous print of Garibaldi’s entrance into Naples on 7 September 1860, mounted on the very building from which the general proclaimed the annexation of the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies to Italy: “of which Naples forms the finest part … [today] is truly a glorious and sacred day, in which the people [become] … a free nation.”
From technical device to symbol of rationality and progress, the lightning rod transformed the urban landscape and helped solidify Naples’ role as a center of scientific experimentation and electrical outreach.

___Mauro Gargano