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In Netherlands, a 200-year-old condom is on display at ‘Safe Sex?’ exhibit
A unique 200-year-old condom adorned with erotic imagery is now on display at the Rijksmuseum, highlighting historical attitudes towards sex.
The Netherlands' national museum has a new or rather a bizarre object on display, a nearly 200-year-old condom emblazoned with erotic art, that merges art with Amsterdam's infamous Red Light District.
It is part of an exhibition called "Safe Sex?" about 19th-century sex work that opened on Tuesday. The 200-year-old condom, possibly a souvenir from a brothel, is decorated with an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen.
According to a CNN report, the condom measures under eight inches, and is in ‘mint condition,’ said Joyce Zelen, curator of prints at the museum in Netherlands. UV testing revealed it hasn't been used, she added.
“Condoms would have been sold under the counter at the time. This fact, as well as the print and the extended length of the condom, which is 20 centimeters (7.9 inches) long, suggest that this was “a luxury brothel souvenir,” she said.
The Rijksmuseum said in a statement that the playful prophylactic is believed to be made around 1830 from a sheep's appendix and “depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health.”
‘This is my choice,’ makes the print a parody of both celibacy and the Judgement of Paris from Greek mythology,” AP news agency quoted museum's statement.
The inscription, ‘Voilà mon choix’, meaning ‘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.
While this kind of condom was not likely to have been used, those designed to protect the wearer would have been made with similar materials, Zelen told CNN, adding that they would have provided minimal protection from unwanted pregnancies and sexual transmitted infections such as syphilis, which was a significant public health problem in 19th century Europe.
The Rijksmuseum reportedly acquired the condom at auction six months ago and it is the first example of a print on a condom to form part of the museum’s collection.
The condom is on display until the end of November.
