TRIAL BY WATER

handwoven cotton, linen thread

48”x 40”

The air is a net. 
The water is a snare. 
Accused witches were dragged 
to the nearest body of water, 
stripped, bound and thrown in 
to see if they would 
sink or float. 

A witch was believed to have 
spurned the sacrament of baptism, 
the water would reject her body 
prevent her from submerging. 

An innocent woman would 
sink like a stone; an unfortunate, 
necessary cost to weed out the wicked.