Artemisia would re-dress whilst giving her testimony- she regains her power- she had to undress in front of Tassi, now by re-dressing, covering herself and telling people what happened to her she regains that strength.
BUT.. this is a tender moment for her and she may feel uncomfortable having to be naked in front of people and embarrassed, and then tell them traumatic private details about an event that scarred her, in front of the man who did it whilst no one believes her.
She would go quiet whilst getting changed at very pivotal moments throughout her testimony. An example of this is when she told the court that “he was holding his penis”, 40 second pause whilst she puts her shirt back on “holding his penis, pointed at my vagina” - clearly make the audience feel uncomfortable and be left with the vision of his penis whilst she cries, SO UNCOMFORTABLE. Audience= jury in this case.
Reflects the authenticity and truthfulness within the performance and of the real trial that took place in Renaissance Rome.
Tassi aggressively testifying against artemisia- ‘who made you testify against me, with what words, who was present?' -refuses to make eye contact, and actually walks away from Artemisia and addresses the audience.
The sequence of the torture was performed with such emotion and conviction that it became slightly traumatic to watch, the visceral breathing, sharp and burst of pain and wincing were so real and performed so convincingly that as an audience member you couldn’t help but to cringe and feel sympathy- use of facial expressions, body language and screams.