Musée de l'érotisme et de la mythologie - Museum van erotiek en mythologië

The Museum of Eroticism and Mythology (MEM) in Brussels is a small private museum dedicated to erotic art from different eras and cultures. It occupies an 18th-century patrician house on rue Sainte-Anne, in the historic Sablon district, close to the Petit Sablon and Grand Sablon squares.

Whose collection is it?

The museum grew out of a single lifelong passion. Guy Martens, a retired occupational health physician, spent more than fifty years collecting erotic art before deciding to buy a house near the Grote Zavel to display it to the public. The museum opened on 14 February 2012 — Valentine's Day.

What can visitors see?

Spread across three floors of the 18th-century townhouse, arranged like a cabinet of curiosities, the museum holds more than 800 objects spanning continents and centuries, from antiquity to contemporary work. The collection includes:

• Greek and Roman antiquities
• paintings and sculptures
• ivory objects
• Japanese prints
• drawings and lithographs
• other curiosities tied to erotic and mythological themes

The works come from Europe, Japan, China, India, Persia, Indonesia, Africa and Mexico, showing erotic art as a theme present across very different cultural traditions rather than a purely Western phenomenon.

Among the oldest pieces is a six-thousand-year-old Sumerian clay tablet. The collection also features Greek vases and a head of the hermaphrodite deity Attis dating to the 1st century BCE — this pairing of erotic and mythological subject matter is what sets the museum apart from institutions focused on eroticism alone.

The private collection is regarded as one of the finest of its kind in Europe, thanks to the rarity and diversity of the pieces on display.

Getting there

The museum sits in central Brussels, in the Sablon district, within easy reach of public transport. STIB tram lines 92 and 93, and bus lines 27, 48 and 95, stop at Petit Sablon and Grand Sablon nearby.

Frequently asked questions

Where exactly is the museum located? On rue Sainte-Anne, in the Sablon district in central Brussels, near Grand Sablon and Petit Sablon.

Who assembled the collection? Guy Martens, a retired occupational health physician who collected erotic art for more than fifty years.

How many objects does the collection include? Over 800 pieces displayed across three floors of a historic townhouse.

What time period and regions does the collection cover? From antiquity — the oldest object is a six-thousand-year-old Sumerian clay tablet — to contemporary art, with pieces from Europe, Asia, Africa and Central America.

When did the museum open? On 14 February 2012.