18th to 19th C.
this large and extaordinary pair were once atop a church near Bassano Del Grappa, Veneto, Italy, they were placed atop important structures for protection against lighting strikes, originally conceived by Benjamin Franklin the idea of the capture of lightning strikes quickly spread throughout Europe achieving great success; after dozens of strikes and the resulting destruction delivered from the 14th to 18th centuries, the Tower at St. Marks Cathedral in Venice has suffered no damage since the introduction of its lightning rod in 1766
