200-year-old condom goes on display at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum

200-year-old condom goes on display at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum
The condom at Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum. (Kelly Schenk/Rijksmuseum via AP)

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”.

The condom (Kelly Schenk/Rijksmuseum via AP)

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.

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.

The condom is on display until the end of November.

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