Rijksmuseum

Allegorical Print with Six Punishments for the Crime of Sodomy

Date

1730

Medium

paper

Institution

Rijksmuseum

The six images and accompanying text show what men faced if they succumbed to the temptation of having sex together. The print was made in 1730, when more than 300 men in the Dutch Republic were prosecuted for sex between men (sodomy), at least 75 of whom received the death penalty. The punishments had to be carried out in public and were depicted in prints like this one to serve as a deterrent. Sex between men was explicitly criminalised and declared a sin.

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