A 200-Year-Old Condom with Erotic Art? Only in Amsterdam 🇳🇱🍆

Leave it to Amsterdam to combine fine art, historical artifacts, and a wink to the Red Light District.
The Rijksmuseum, aka the Netherlands’ most prestigious art institution, just put a nearly 200-year-old condom on display — and yes, it’s exactly as wild as it sounds.
Believed to date back to around 1830, the vintage sheath was made from (brace yourself) a sheep’s appendix and is decorated with erotic imagery featuring a nun and three clergymen. Because even in the 1800s, satire and scandal made great bedfellows.
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The item is part of a new exhibition titled "Safe Sex?", which explores the history of sex work in the 19th century and the early conversations around sexual health. The museum says the condom “depicts both the playful and the serious side of sexual health,” which is probably the most elegant way to describe sheep-intestine birth control.
Possibly a cheeky souvenir from a brothel, this frisky find is on display now through the end of November, giving curious visitors a chance to reflect on how far we’ve come (or not) when it comes to safe sex, taboos, and what we choose to frame as art.
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