We all know the symbol of the broken heart, but where did it come from? Art history has some answers

The heartbreak emoji is a near-universal symbol for the despair and desperation of those thwarted by Cupid's sometimes cruel arrow. Linking the heart with romance Frau Venus und der Verliebte shows many creative ways that a heart can be broken. This print shows a desperate lover kneeling before Frau Minne — the goddess of love ­— with the banner around her translating to: "my heart suffers pain". Although "fox eating through heart" probably wouldn't make a good emoji, this sketch is nonetheless a charming reminder of the long history of creative ways we have tried to express the inexpressible feeling of a broken heart. I can't read 17th-century German.Although "fox eating through heart" probably wouldn't make a good emoji, this sketch is nonetheless a charming reminder of the long history of creative ways we have tried to express the inexpressible feeling of a broken heart.