Gent, Belgium Museum Straitjacket

I took these pictures on a trip to Gent, Belgium in about 1978. The pictures are B&W. The picture quality isn't very good, primary because of the lighting in the museum.

From a web page: Gent. Don't miss the 12th century "Castle of the Counts" in the very centre of town, which has a small museum of jurisprudence and a display of instruments of torture.

My guess is that when the jacket was put on someone, they may have been in it for weeks or months. It looks like it was quite a process to restrain someone with it.

This jacket is VERY heavy, probably in excess of 20 pounds. (I didn't get to try it on. ) Applied it would have looked like someone wrapped up in canvas strips than someone in a modern straitjacket.

The d-rings in the back could be used to cinch the jacket extremely tight. So tight that it could be almost impossible to breath.

It seems that this jacket would have been unquestionably difficult to get out of.

This image shows the entire backside of the jacket.

Details that are worth noting:

Very long sleeves.
Ties at the ends of the sleeves.
Very long tails. Probably crotch straps. Note the absence of any ties.
The other restraints in the picture.

Collar Shot

Collar details:

There might be a tie/rope to close the collar.
The loops at the top of the shoulders. My guess is that these loops were used for both the crotch straps and the sleeve ends.
Two sets of d-rings on each side side of the back opening.

Lower body shot

Lower body notes:

The double side loops. These could have been used for the arms and/or the crotch straps.
Leather straps for closing the jacket. Two seem to be in "good" shape. A lower one seems broken. My guess is the jacket originally had quite a few more.

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