<P> 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 representing 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 . </P>
<P> 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 representing 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 . </P>
where did the traditional heart shape come from
where did the traditional heart shape come from
Europe
Europe