Valentine - Mechanical - Heart with arrow opens, image of a woman 1875

This whimsical valentine features a heart pierced by Cupid’s arrow, surrounded by cherubs and adorned with period fashion. The heart, universally recognized as the seat of emotions, here becomes a target, struck by Cupid’s arrow, a symbol of love's swift and sometimes painful arrival. This motif of the pierced heart echoes through history, appearing in medieval Christian art representing the Virgin Mary's Immaculate Heart, often depicted with swords or flames, symbolizing sorrow and divine love. Here, the arrow replaces the sword, transforming the sacred into the secular, the divine into the romantic. Notice how the cherubs, descendants of ancient Greco-Roman Cupids, frolic around the central figure. These winged figures, once symbols of divine love, have been repurposed to evoke feelings of affection and desire, reminding us that even the most profound symbols are subject to metamorphosis, shaped by the shifting sands of culture and emotion.