Giacomo Ciamician (1857-1922) was a pioneer in the study of photochemical reactions and their applications. However, at the time, the light sources in the scientific laboratories were too weak to conduct meaningful experiments. He therefore had to use sunlight for his researches. To this end, he used a terrace of the Institute of Science of the University of Bologna. In this picture, dating from the first decade of the 20th century, he inspects the flasks that contained the organic substances whose light induced transformations he wanted to study together with his friend and collaborator Paul Silber (1851-1932).
These bronze reliefs are a copy of the reliefs on the memorial for Jan Pieter Minckelers (1748-1824), erected in Maastricht in 1904 by sculptor Bart van Hove (1850-1914). Minckelers was a lecturer at the University of Leuven and in 1783, he succeeded in producing the very first lighting gas. The reliefs show how Minckelers, supported by the Duke of Arenberg, released the very first gas balloon in the Low Countries on the lawn in front of Arenberg Castle on 20 November 1783, and how already in the following year his own laboratory was illuminated with the technology. The artist donated the reliefs to the university at the inauguration of the statue in Maastricht.
