Hedgehog

Via della Frezza was once the site of the rope torture. Widely used, it consisted of tying the condemned person’s wrists behind their back and then hoisting the body using a pulley. The entire weight of the body was thus placed on the shoulder joints. Generally, the consequences of the treatment resulted in lifelong disability. Giuseppe Gioacchino Belli comments on the punishment in sonnet 1733 “Lo spazzetto della corda ar corso” (Rome 12 November 1835): «Prima la corda al corso era un supprizzio / che un galantuomo che l’avessi presa / manco era bbono ppiù a sservì la cchiesa, / manco a ffà er ladro e a gguadaggnà sur vizzio». In the work “Hedgehog”, the hands call out for life and freedom, reacting against torture and resisting indifference.