Playboy magazine has made history by featuring its first-ever vagina on the front cover.

Playboy Germany’s July 2022 cover is dominated by a close-up of model Marisa Papen’s vagina decorated with digital flowers.

Papen – from Limburg, Belgium – describes herself as an “artist, activist, naturalist”.

She is known for posing naked in controversial locations and hit headlines when she was arrested for being photographed nude at the Karnak Temple in Luxor, Egypt, in April 2017.

Papen, 30, is no stranger to Playboy, having first been photographed for the Portuguese edition of the magazine in 2016.

In an exclusive interview with Newsflash, Papen said: “I wanted to get the first vagina on the cover of Playboy because the vagina is a celebration of femininity, and Playboy in the early stages of the magazine helped in bringing women more to the foreground.

“I agree that the way they have done it has not always been with the most taste, but if you want to change something, you have to go from the inside.

“It’s a play with censorship and the absurdity of why some body parts should be censored.

“Covering myself with a layer of digital flowers circumvents this and tells the story of womanhood in a poetic way.”

Papen revealed she was one of 50 artists chosen by Playboy Germany to create a cover for its 50th anniversary edition.

The photo of her vagina was taken by her husband, photographer Michael Chichi.

At first – the couple said – Playboy lawyers were wary of breaching obscenity laws.

But when they had the brainwave to cover Papen’s vagina in flowers, they gave the shoot the go-ahead.

In a joint statement, Papen and Chichi said: “For the last year our projects have been exploring and exposing the meaning of the vagina in our media and culture.

“We felt this collaboration would be the perfect opportunity to celebrate her and to evoke curiosity and change from within.

“In our view the audience of male magazines would greatly benefit from a more authentic understanding of women and femininity.

“So after the invitation, we promptly replied with a proposal to exhibit our ‘Flower of Life’ image.

“We received an ecstatic answer but Playboy’s lawyers advised against it, since a vagina can not be publicly displayed on news stands.

“We then countered with a concept that would graciously mock censorship: What if we would cover Marisa’s flower with tiny flowers? Playboy said yes.”

The couple revealed how they tried to “dress” Papen’s vagina with flowers, but they were too big and would keep falling off.

They eventually got in touch with digital artist Nejc Polovsak, who helped them create the current image.

Papen and Chichi said: “‘If only I would be a flower’ is the first vagina in history on the cover of Playboy!

“It is a celebration of nature yet it is a longing to be celebrated for the beauty we naturally inhibit.

“It is a play with the edges of censorship and an anticipation for the freedom that is awaiting us.”