A cheeky condom from the 1800s steals the show at an Amsterdam museum

It’s an illustration that would be racy even by today’s standards: A nun points her finger at a trio of clergymen, who raise their robes to reveal their aroused state. Her bare legs are splayed open, in a bizarre and humorous exchange.

If that wasn’t risqué enough, the drawing was printed on a condom nearly 200 years ago and is thought to have been circulated as a brothel souvenir. Likely made from a sheep’s appendix, the early contraceptive is also inscribed with the words “Voilà mon choix,” or “This is my choice” - a tongue-in-cheek jab at celibacy.

The yellowed, crinkled condom made its debut on Tuesday at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Perched on a tiny stand, it rests among other relics depicting 19th-century prostitution and sexuality in the museum’s print room, which is dedicated to drawings and photographs across various media.

“Only two such objects are known to have survived to the present day,” the Rijksmuseum said in a release. “It reveals that printing was being used in a wide range of contexts.”

Curious readers can get a closer, possibly not-safe-for-work look here.

The origin of the condom - or its derivatives - might date to around 3000 BC, when it was written that the mythological character King Minos of Crete protected his wife from the “serpents and scorpions” in his semen by inserting a goat’s bladder into her vagina before intercourse. It was said that Minos’s mistress had died after having intercourse with him, leading him to seek further protection from disease. Other interpretations of the story suggest that Minos wore the goat’s bladder himself.

Some argue that condoms made from animal intestines have existed since at least the medieval age. In a lecture about the history of condoms, researcher Kate Stephenson said that the earliest evidence of condom use that she found was from 1564, when an Italian anatomist wrote about men using linen cloth made to fit over the penis. Another scholar documented similar methods a few years later, she added.

The 1830 condom on display in the Netherlands “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 Rijksmuseum wrote.

Close-up photos on the museum’s website show the intricate, etching-like nature of the drawing printed upon it. The museum says its inscription is also a parody of the Judgment of Paris, a Greek myth that tells of the Trojan prince choosing which of three goddesses - Aphrodite, Athena and Hera - is the most beautiful.

Rijksmuseum curators purchased the condom six months ago at an auction. There were no other bidders, according to Artnet.

The condom will be on display until the end of November, the museum said.