I am sorry to inform you that this is not the beginning of a pants-off dance-off.

As much fun as it can be to kick those knickers to the curb, I seriously doubt that these women are having that much fun. These ladies are actually lining up for their mandatory bi-weekly medical examination to test for STDs.

Toulouse-Lautrec painted this scene from personal observation in a brothel in Paris where he lived. He loved women and he spent so much time at this brothel at 24 Rue des Moulins in Paris, that he became close personal friends with the ladies, even though he still paid for their services. The sexy redhead pictured here was his favorite. Her name is Rolande and she's featured in 13 of his paintings. 

At the time, this was one of the most luxurious brothels around, with ornate themed rooms ranging from a Chinese salon to a gothic chamber. Though the ladies were treated well, most women were forced into prostitution to help support their families since jobs were scarce and few other professions were open to women at the time. 

By the end of the 19^th century, there were about 34,000 legal prostitutes registered in Paris. At the time, brothels were legal and inspected regularly by the police, and the women were subject to these routine tests. These examinations were conducted to protect clients against syphilis, a sexually transmitted disease that Columbus brought back to Europe from the New World in the late 15^th century. In the 19^th century when this painting was created, syphilis had become a bit of an epidemic. More then 15 percent of the adult population and 70 percent of sex workers suffered from the mind-deteriorating disease.

Sadly, I think Toulouse-Lautrec should have taken a lesson from these ladies and gotten a check up because he died from syphilis at the age of 36. I wonder where he contracted that one…