Niccolò Machiavelli
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Niccolò di Bernardo dei Machiavelli was a Florentine diplomat, author, philosopher, and historian who lived during the Italian Renaissance. He is best known for his political treatise The Prince, writ
Posthumous portrait by Santi di Tito, latter half of the 16th century
Oil painting of Machiavelli by Cristofano dell'Altissimo
Machiavelli's tomb in the Santa Croce Church in Florence
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici, to whom the final version of The Prince was dedicated
Strappado
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The strappado, also known as corda, is a form of torture in which the victim's hands are tied behind their back and the victim is suspended by a rope attached to the wrists, typically resulting in dis
Niccolò Machiavelli
…the Medici family from power merely because his name was on a list of possible sympathizers. He was tortured, being subjected to several drops of the "strappado", he nonetheless denied involvement and was released after three weeks. He was freed due to Pope Leo X granting amnesty to all political prisoners…
The strappado, used as public punishment; detail of plate 10 of Les Grandes Misères de la guerre by Jacques Callot, 1633
A sculpture depicting strappado