Franklin's experiment, June 1752: Demonstrating the identity of lightning and electricty, from which he invented the lightning rod – Antique Wall Art
(Originally scanned by the Library of Congress. Each image is professionally and digitally cleaned of artifacts such as color bars and extra borders prior to printing.)
Description
Few images capture their era like this antique lithograph of Franklin's experiment, June 1752: Demonstrating the identity of lightning and electricty, from which he invented the lightning rod. Sourced directly from the Library of Congress, it represents an authentic piece of documented history.
Choose the framed print, ready to hang the day it arrives, or the unframed print for a frame of your own. A fine choice for anyone who loves history, and a gift that gets noticed. Free shipping in the lower 48 states. Since 2001, Snapshots of the Past has shipped historic prints to tens of thousands of customers around the world.
Franklin's experiment, June 1752: Demonstrating the identity of lightning and electricty, from which he invented the lightning rod
Order a print
Thank you. Your order went through, and a receipt is on its way by email.
Secure checkout · SSL encryptedPowered by Stripe and PayPal
Free shipping in the lower 48 states. The checkout page shows the picture, size and price before you pay.
A kite flown into a thunderstorm, with a key tied to its wet string, shows the moment Franklin tested whether lightning was electricity. He carried out the experiment in June 1752, and the sparks he drew from the key gave him the evidence for the lightning rod, a way to guard buildings from strikes. Currier & Ives published this lithograph around 1876, roughly a century after the event and during the nation's centennial, when Franklin was a favored subject for popular prints. The dramatic storm scene reflects how the story had grown into a national legend rather than an eyewitness record.
| Created / published | New York : Published by Currier & Ives, c1876. |
|---|---|
| Medium | 1 print : lithograph. |
| Genre | Lithographs 1870-1880. |
| Notes | Currier & Ives : a catalogue raisonné / compiled by Gale Research. Detroit, MI : Gale Research, c1983, no. 2305 |
| Source | Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division |
| Original scan | 1,536 × 1,076 px · prints to 5 × 4 in at 300 dpi |
| Reference | AMZ-SOTP-HPA-174475 |
More from the Presidents collection
Snapshots of the Past helps heritage brands, museums, historians and storytellers tell stories with history: historic prints, image licensing and historical storytelling drawn from more than 25 years of research and curation.
![[Benjamin Franklin, 1706-1790, full length, as a youth, walking with stick and sack in one hand, in front of a doorway in which is standing young woman, Deborah Reade]](https://images.jameslantos.com/img/1b/1b32e648719d-400.webp)
