On Display: A 200-Year-Old Condom With Naughty Art

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." It's part of an exhibition called "Safe Sex?" about 19th-century sex work that opened on Tuesday, reports the AP. 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 Renoir painting "The Judgment of Paris," which depicts the Trojan prince Paris judging a beauty contest between three goddesses. More, via ArtDependence:

• "Acquiring the condom has enabled us to focus on 19th-century sexuality and prostitution, a subject that is underrepresented in our collection. 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 condom is on display until the end of November.

(More strange stuff stories.)