Rijksmuseum buys 200-year-old condom with erotic print

The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam has bought a condom dating from around 1830 to be the centrepiece of a new exhibition.

The condom, thought to be made from a piece of sheep’s intestine, has a picture on it of a nun spreading her legs before three randy clergymen with erections. “Voila, mon choix” the French letter reads, or “This is what I have to choose from”.

The condom was bought for €1,000 at an auction in Haarlem, curator Joyce Zelen told the Parool. It was a bargain, she said, as condoms with pictures on them have been fetching much higher prices in the last 20 years.

The condom, protected by a glass case, is the centrepiece of a small exhibition called Safe Sex? which shows the close links between prostitution, medicine and morality in the 19th century. Drawings, photos and etchings depict pleasure, visits to brothels, as well as the stigma and fear of sexually transmitted diseases.

“The condom represents both art and history. It enables us to pause and look at the sexual history of the 19th century which we haven’t done much with so far,” Zelen said

Safe Sex? is on until November 30.