From Anatomy to Art: The Story of the Heart Symbol

Every February, red and pink hearts appear everywhere. They decorate greeting cards, boxes of chocolate, and classroom displays for Valentine's Day. People everywhere recognize the familiar shape with two curved lobes at the top coming together at a point at the bottom. However, if you look at a diagram of a real human heart in a science textbook, you will notice something surprising. The actual organ looks very different from the symbol we draw on paper! Understanding why this iconic symbol represents love requires exploring both human anatomy and historical art.

In reality, the human heart is a muscular organ roughly the size of a closed fist. It sits slightly to the left of the center of your chest. Rather than having a neat, symmetrical point, a real heart is somewhat pear-shaped and covered with complex blood vessels. Its vital job is to pump oxygen-rich blood throughout your body. Centuries ago, ancient scholars did not have advanced medical tools to look inside living bodies. Early thinkers, including the Greek philosopher Aristotle, described the heart as having a rounded top and a pointed bottom. When medieval artists tried to paint the heart based on these early medical descriptions, their illustrations looked much like the stylized heart shape we recognize today.