From the Dungeons of Europe to the Glass Cases of Galleries: The Lasting Echo of Human Cruelty
A dark phase of European history shows up before us throughout the Center Ages (14 th to 16 th century), when distressing tools were invented for torment and penalty. Among them was a well known device called the “Iron-Spiked Rabbit.”
Made from heavy iron, this device was loaded with sharp spikes on the within. It would be dragged across a prisoner’s body, tearing flesh and muscle mass, leaving the target covered in blood. This terrible spectacle not only brought upon intolerable discomfort on the prisoners but also worked as a message of terror and control for others.
Some images and writings from that era demonstrate how criminals were bound hand and foot and left at the grace of this tool.
Also today, such devices can be located in galleries as relics. They are not simply items of steel yet symbols of the darker side of human history– a tip of just how viciousness and cruelty were legitimized for law and power.