The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has revealed its latest, rather racy acquisition: a condom dating from 1830, emblazoned with an etching of a half-naked nun alongside three men sporting erect penises. The arty sheath, most likely a sheep’s appendix, is the centrepiece of Safe Sex?, a new exhibition of Dutch and French prints focused on 19th-century sex work and sexuality.
“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 in a statement.
The etching is accompanied by the words “Voilà mon choix”, which translate as “This is my choice”. This, curators say, makes the print a parody of both celibacy and the Judgement of Paris from Greek mythology (a contest between three beautiful goddesses, Aphrodite, Hera and Athena, to determine who was the fairest).
“It’s unclear whether the nun is pointing at the bald man, the thin man, or the one who looks slightly overweight,” the Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen told The Guardian. “That way, any type of man could feel spoken to.”
The intricate contraceptive—presumably made for more well-endowed men at 20 centimetres in length—was bought for €1,000 at an auction in Haarlem, northwest Netherlands, last November.
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