A Christian group, Stichting Civitas Christiana and TFP Student Action Europe, is protesting the Rijksmuseum's display of a 1830s condom made from a sheep's appendix, featuring an erotic etching of a nun and three clergymen. The condom, acquired at auction, is part of a small exhibition on 19th-century prostitution and riffs on the judgment of Paris myth. The group has distributed flyers and launched a petition calling the display a sacrilege, while the museum defends it as historically significant and humorous.
The controversy matters because it highlights ongoing tensions between religious groups and cultural institutions over the display of historically provocative objects. The Rijksmuseum's co-curator Joyce Zelen notes that mocking religion is as old as religion itself, and the exhibition provides context about 19th-century sexual health and prostitution. The protest also raises questions about double standards in how museums treat religious imagery from different faiths, as critics note that a caricature of Mohammed would be unthinkable in the same institution.