Heart symbol
History
The combination of the heart shape and its use within the heart metaphor developed at the end of the Middle Ages, although the shape has been used in many ancient epigraphy monuments and texts. With possible early examples or direct predecessors in the 13th to 14th century, the familiar symbol of the heart represented love developed in the 15th century, and became popular in Europe during the 16th. Before the 14th century, the heart shape was not associated with the meaning of the heart metaphor. The geometric shape itself is found in much earlier sources, but in such instances does not depict a heart, but typically foliage: in examples from antiquity fig leaves, and in medieval iconography and heraldry typically the leaves of ivy and of the water-lily. One possible early use in the 11th century could be found in the manuscript, Al-Maqamat written by Al Hariri of Basra. The manuscript includes an illustration of a farewell greeting between two men while astride their camels, with the heart shape seen prominently over their heads.
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