3-088-465 - LTL/Heritage Images

The Water Torture, 1556, (1878). The prisoner was tied with ropes to a sloping ladder or surface so that his head was lower than his feet. In this position, a cloth was forced down into his mouth, and water was slowly poured down his throat with a pitcher so that he swallowed it until it burst. After an engraving from "Praxis Rerum Criminalium" by J. Damhouder", Antwerp, 1556. From "Moeurs, usages et costumes au moyen-âge et à l'époque de la Renaissance" by Paul Lacroix, Paris, 1878.