The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has opened a display featuring a condom from the 19th century, which has been etched with an erotic print. Thought to be a souvenir from a brothel, the condom will be displayed until the end of November.
Dating back to around 1830, the almost 200-year-old condom is probably made from a sheep’s appendix and has an erotic scene printed on the outside. The Dutch museum believes that it is one of just two of its kind that survived until the present day.
The erotic print features a seated nun splaying her legs, pointing at one of three clergymen who are standing in front of her. “Voilà mon choix”, meaning “This is my choice”, is inscribed below the print. According to the Rijksmuseum, this “makes the print a parody of both celibacy and the Judgement of Paris from Greek mythology”.
With the support of the F.G. Waller Fonds, the museum in Amsterdam acquired the condom as an addition to the Rijksmuseum Print Room, which includes around 750.000 prints, drawings and photographs.
“Acquiring the condom has enabled us to focus on 19th-century sexuality and prostitution, a subject that is underrepresented in our collection,” wrote the Rijksmuseum in a press release. “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 condom joins a display on 19th-century prostitution and sexuality, which is open from June 3 until the end of November.
Photo: Rijksmuseum/Kelly Schenk