An eminent scholar unearths the captivating history of the two-lobed heart symbol from scripture and tapestry to T-shirts and text messages, shedding light on how we have expressed love since antiquity
The symmetrical, exuberant heart is everywhere: it gives shape to candy, pendants, the frothy milk on top of a cappuccino, and much else. How can we explain the ubiquity of what might be the most recognizable symbol in the world?
InThe Amorous Heart, Marilyn Yalom tracks the heart metaphor and heart iconography across two thousand years, through Christian theology, pagan love poetry, medieval painting, Shakespearean drama, Enlightenment science, and into the present. She argues that the symbol reveals a tension between love as romantic and sexual on the one hand, and as religious and spiritual on the other. Ultimately, the heart symbol is a guide to the astonishing variety of human affections, from the erotic to the chaste and from the unrequited to the conjugal.
Marilyn Yalomis a senior scholar at the Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford University, and the author of
A History of the Wife, among other books. She lives in Palo Alto, CA, with her husband, Irvin. From Christian theology to erotic poetry, Shakespearean drama to contemporary heart symbolism,
The Amorous Heartis a fascinating history of the heart as symbol, icon and inspiration.
Mercury News (San Jose, CA) Yalom's writing is always clear and thoughtful, and at times (in congruence with her subject) it verges on the mildly frolicsome.
Wall Street Journal A charming and curious account of the heart in Western culture.
Times Literary Supplement This history of the heart will woo romantics and iconographers alike.
Booklist Dynamic... Yalom's book is a scholarly and fresh approach to art history.
Publishers Weekly Fascil£S
![The Amorous Heart: An Unconventional History of Love [Hardcover]](/itemImage/2/0/6/0/2_733624.jpg)