The Hague, Netherlands — The Netherlands' national museum has a new object on display that merges art with Amsterdam's infamous Red Light District: a nearly 200-year-old condom, emblazoned with erotic art.
The Rijksmuseum said in a statement that the playful prophylactic, believed to be made around 1830 from a sheep's appendix, "depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health."
It is part of an exhibition called "Safe Sex?" about 19th century sex work that opened on Tuesday.
The condom, possibly a souvenir from a brothel, is decorated with an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen.
A condom featuring an erotic art print, believed to have been made from a sheep's appendix around 1830, is seen on display inside the Netherlands' Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam.
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk
The phrase "This is my choice" is written along the sheath in French. According to the museum, this is a reference to the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting "The Judgment of Paris," which depicts the Trojan prince Paris judging a beauty contest between three goddesses.
"Acquiring the condom has enabled us to focus on 19th-century sexuality and prostitution, a subject that is underrepresented in our collection. It embodies both the lighter and darker sides of sexual health, in an era when the quest for sensual pleasure was fraught with fears of unwanted pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases — especially syphilis," the museum says on its website.
A woman walks behind a condom emblazoned with an erotic art print, believed to have been made from a sheep's appendix around 1830, in the Netherlands' Rijksmuseum, in Amsterdam.
Courtesy of the Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk
The museum said it acquired the condom at an auction about six months ago with support from the F.G. Waller-Fonds, a memorial fund established in 1938 in memory of one of the Rijksmuseum's benefactors.
The piece of sexually-themed art history was to remain on display until the end of November, the museum said.
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