Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum has become a center of global attention captivating visitors with it’s unique blend of history, art, and sexuality and majorly because of a rare 200-year-old condom, which the museum’s experts say is remarkably preserved in and “mint condition.”
The artifact, acquired at an auction in 2024 for €1,000( approximately ksh 147,640.00 Kenyan Shilling), is believed to have originated as a luxury souvenir from a high-end brothel in France, possibly Paris.
According to Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen only two such objects are known to have survived to the present day, making this an exceptionally rare glimpse into the private and public attitudes toward sexuality in the 19th century.
Thought to have been crafted around 1830 from a sheep’s appendix, the condom features an explicit etching depicting a nun and three clergymen an image both provocative and steeped in symbolism.
Rijksmuseum curator Joyce Zelen told the BBC that Since the condom was put on display the museum has been packed with people – young and old – and the “response has been amazing”,
The museum notes this is the first example of a printed condom in its vast collection of 750,000 works, underscoring the significance of this extraordinary acquisition.
The etching shows a nun seated with her dress lifted and legs apart, pointing at three clergymen who stand before her, their robes raised.
The French inscription “Voilà mon choix” (“There is my choice”) adorns the sheath, a playful yet subversive parody of both religious celibacy and the mythological Judgement of Paris, in which the Trojan prince Paris must choose the fairest goddess.
Part of the “Safe Sex?” exhibition on 19th-century prostitution and sexuality, the condom is on display alongside prints, drawings, and photographs until the end of November.
