Netherlands’ museum displays 200-year-old condom, a 19th century satire on... with a sharp message in unique exhibition titled...

In a move to promote sex education, the national museum in Netherlands has put on display an unconventional object that blends art with education and awareness. An almost 200-year-old condom adorned with erotic art but with an educational message. The condom, or prophylactic, is believed to have been made in 1830 from a sheep’s appendix, and the display “depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health,” said Rijksmuseum. The display is a part of the exhibition focused on “Safe Sex?” to make people aware of 19th-century prostitution and sexuality.  

A 19th Century satire

The condom which might have been from Amsterdam’s famous Red-Light area, has printed with an erotic image of a nun and three clergymen. The phrase “This is my choice” is written adjacently in French. The museum said that the art is a reference to the Pierre-Auguste Renoir painting “The Judgment of Paris,” which shows the Trojan prince Paris being a judge of a beauty contest between three goddesses. The display will be opened until the end of November.  In those times, condom were meant as a taboo and hidden away from the public eye. 

“The inscription Voila mon choix, meaning 'There, that's my choice', makes the print a parody of both celibacy and the Judgement of Paris from Greek mythology,” the museum further said. After the object was put on display, many visitors including both young and old came in huge numbers to watch the display. Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen felt joy at the “amazing response” and said that she and a colleague at first laughed at the object.  

“We looked at it with UV light and suspect it was never actually used. It's also unclear whether the nun in the etching is pointing at the bald man, the thin man, or the one who looks slightly overweight. That way, any type of man could feel spoken to” Ms Zelen explained. The display also includes many other prints, drawings, and photographs as part of the exhibition.