Heart Shaped Heart – Origins of the Heart Icon

The artistic idea is to project a realistic similarity of the shape of the heart icon on a transverse cut through the heart on a CT scan.

The shape of the human heart is complex and depending on the perspective of the viewer will have very different appearances. The projection closest to the icon is seen in the transverse view of the heart, exemplified in this art piece which shows a CT scan of a human heart. In this view, all the chambers and the septa between the atria and ventricles are visualised and the overlay projects the iconic morphology.

Description

A CT scan showing a heart shaped heart!!! Did Radiology uncover the historical origins of the heart icon?

The origin of the iconic shape of the heart icon seemingly going back to the animal sacrifice and slaughter for human consumption. Romantic associations with heart has a long history and its use in art probably has its earliest origins in the 13th century. The shape of the icon and its relationship to love and romance was strengthened by morphological similarity to the silphium seed used for contraception in Greek culture and the shape of human attraction including the breasts, buttocks, mons pubis and testes.

The shape of the human heart is complex and depending on the perspective of the viewer will have varying appearances. The projection closest to the appearance of the classical icon is seen in the transverse view of the heart, exemplified in this art piece which shows a CT scan of a human heart. In this view, all the chambers and the septa between the atria and ventricles are visualised and the overlay projects the iconic morphology.