The Amorous Heart

January 8, 2018
Yalom (How the French Invented Love) traces the many iterations of heart iconography and its use as a metaphor for love throughout history in this dynamic study. When the heart shape first appeared more than 2,500 years ago, it had not yet taken on the romantic meaning it has today and was simply used for decoration. The first heart shape associated with the concept of love was conelike and appeared in the art of medieval France and Italy, and 14th-century European painters are credited with the evolution of the iconic, bi-lobed shape. Now the two-sided heart appears everywhere and is one of the most recognizable symbols on Earth. Over the course of this interdisciplinary study, Yalom examines the “heart’s turbulent emotions” in Shakespeare’s work, travels back to the first celebration of Saint Valentine’s Day in the Middle Ages, and explores heart symbolism in Christianity. Yalom’s book is a scholarly and fresh approach to art history.

January 1, 2018
In what could be a sequel to Yalom's previous examination, How the French Invented Love: Nine Hundred Years of Passion and Romance (2012), this study delves into the history behind the bilobed heart, which has become the essential symbol of love. Yalom tracks the first appearances of the heart icon on ancient coins and pottery in what can be interpreted as seed pods and plant stock traded as commerce. Courtly love gives the symbol more meaning as emblematic of the most vital organ in the human body and one that is given figuratively to another in exchange for theirs. A spiritual exchange of a sacred heart between believer and the Judeo-Christian God emerges during the Reformation. Romantic love blossoms in Shakespearean dialogue, in which the heart is continually mentioned. Yalom brings the Valentine heart up-to-date as she considers our image-focused texting habits as they are used to convey the same timeless emotion. Though decidedly Western focused, this history of the heart will woo romantics and iconographers alike.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

Starred review from February 1, 2018

Yalom (senior scholar, Clayman Inst. for Gender Research, Stanford Univ.) writes an introductory survey of how the heart became a symbol of love from the age of antiquity through contemporary times. She begins by asking how and when did the heart come to be associated with love, what led it to become a global symbol of love, and how have different religious traditions reconciled amorous and spiritual love? To answer these questions, Yalom began an investigation of cave drawings and songs of French and German troubadours along with historical art, jewelry, poetry, and literature. In reviewing the Bible, she considers the writings of the church fathers, the Latin concept of caritas, the celebration of Valentine's Day, and the current use of the heart emoji. This survey takes us from ancient Greece and Rome to North Africa, from the Middle Ages to the present. VERDICT An engaging and fascinating account of the heart becoming synonymous with love, both in the amorous sense and as a vehicle for the word of God. This slender volume contributes mightily to a small area of scholarship and would be beneficial to general and academic readers.--Jacqueline Parascandola, Univ. of Virginia

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