An artist's depiction of a torture chamber of the Inquisition, ca. 1736. The Inquisitors and the clerk are seen on the right.[1] The Inquisitors were present to hear the confession, as soon as the torture victim gave up resisting, and the clerk recorded it.[1] The strappado i.e. the rope and pulley system through which the victims, having their hands tied behind their backs and the lifting rope attached to their wrists, were raised and then lowered violently from the chamber ceiling, is visible on the right.[2]