Today is a departure from strict anatomy. Many students have asked me why we draw a heart the way we do today. Here is a little information. I will not venture to say which if any of these are correct. See the following link for more information. http://www.romancestuck.com/articles/general/history-of-heart-shape.htm
In modern days, the heart symbolizes love, romance, and passion, but where did this come from?
The History of the Heart Shape
The heart is traditionally drawn in this shape with a red color.
Colors of the Heart
The color of hearts is generally red colored. Red traditionally represents passion and strong emotions in many cultures.Heart Theories
From what we could determine, there are three main theories as to where the heart shape originated. None of the three are proven, but all present interesting points: 1. Modeled after an actual heart.
This theory is actually a pretty well known one. The theory says that the modern drawing of a heart is actually modeled after the actual human heart because the ancients, including Aristotle, and even some today, believe that the heart contains all human passions. However, the traditional heart shape as drawn has very little resemblance to an actual human heart. The drawing more closely matches that of a cattle heart, which was more readily available in sight in past centuries, meaning they modeled it after a cattle heart. However, the resemblance to the cattle heart is still very slight. It's also said that the drawing of a modern heart possibly originated because of botched drawings of the human heart by medieval artists after a philosopher inaccurately described the shape. The medieval tradition of courtly love may have reinforced the shape's association with romance. Hearts can be found on playing cards, tapestries, and paintings.
Human heart - The most "heart shaped" I could find.
Some say that the traditional heart shape actually represents body features of a female, such as the vulva, breasts, or buttocks. The female pelvis is also somewhat heart-shaped. Because the female gives birth to life, this could be the association with the heart-shape and love.
3. Derived from a seed.
A last theory is that the traditional heart came was derived from the plant seed of the Silphium plant. This now extinct (for over two millennia) North African plant was found in the ancient city of Cyrene during the seventh century BC. The plant was most commonly used as a seasoning, but was also widely used as a contraceptive in ancient Egypt. Because of it's importance to their economy, they depicted the shape of the seed on their coins. The seeds and flowers were distinctly heart-shaped. It is said that because of the use of the plant as a contraceptive, the shape of the seeds became associated with sexuality and eventually with romantic love.
Silphium Seed Coin - http://growingupcreative.typepad.com/.a/6a010535781c42970c011278d8daef28a4-pi
Fun Fact - One of the most ancient of Valentine's Days rituals (dating from at least the Middle Ages and possibly earlier) was the practice of writing the names of young ladies on slips of paper and placing them within a jar or bowl. The lady whose name was drawn by an eligible bachelor became his valentine and he wore the name on his sleeve for one week. It is believed that the saying "to wear one's heart on one's sleeve" (meaning that is is easy for others to know the romantic inclination of an individual) may have originated from this custom.
Valentine Superstition - It was believed that if a lady slept with a sprig of rosemary pinned inside the pillow on the Eve of Valentine's Day it would encourage dreams of a future sweetheart's face.
For more information try the following - http://www.novareinna.com/festive/valrites.html
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