Leaf-and-dart (also known as rais-de-cœur and heart-and-dart) is an ornamental motif made up of heart-shaped leaves (or waterleaves inside hearts) alternating with spearheads (or darts). This motif was used in

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

and

Roman architecture Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often con ...

. It was taken up again during the Renaissance, abundantly in the 18th century, being used in the

Louis XVI style Louis XVI style, also called ''Louis Seize'', is a style of architecture, furniture, decoration and art which developed in France during the 19-year reign of Louis XVI (1774–1792), just before the French Revolution. It saw the final phase of t ...

. The French word literally means "rays (beams of light) from heart (its Italian equivalent being ), as the "darts" can resemble triangular lightrays emerging from between the hearts. The singular equivalent () is rarely used.

Gallery

File:Frammento di antefissa, con meandro e syma lesbio, 450-400 ac ca, dal santuario di zinga di casabona, crotone.jpg,

leaf-and-dart on an

antefix In architecture, an antefix () is a vertical block which terminates and conceals the covering tiles of a tiled roof (see imbrex and tegula, monk and nun). It also serves to protect the join from the elements. In grand buildings, the face of e ...

fragment, 450-400 BC, unknown material, Museo archeologico nazionale di Crotone,

Crotone Crotone (; ; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Calabria, Italy. Founded as the Achaean colony of Kroton ( or ; ), it became a great Greek city, home of the renowned mathematician-philosopher Pythagoras amongst other famous citizens, and one ...

, Italy File:Detail Erechtheum Acropolis Athens.jpg, Ancient Greek leaf-and-dart (right above the

egg-and-dart Egg-and-dart, also known as egg-and-tongue, egg-and-anchor, or egg-and-star, is an Ornament (architecture), ornamental device adorning the fundamental quarter-round, convex ovolo profile of molding (decorative), moulding, consisting of alternating ...

) on the

Erechtheion The Erechtheion (, latinized as Erechtheum ; , ) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple on the north side of the Acropolis, Athens, which was primarily dedicated to the goddess Athena. The Ionic building, which housed the ...

, Athens, Greece, unknown architect or sculptor, 421-405 BC File:Pronomos Painter - ARV 1336 1 - satyr play with Herakles - Dionysos and Ariadne with satyrs and maenads - Napoli MAN 81673 - 02.jpg, Ancient Greek leaf-and-dart painted (right under the egg-and-dart lip) on the Pronomos Vase, 410, ceramic, National Archaeological Museum,

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

, Italy File:Θεσσαλονίκη - Αρχαιολογικό Μουσείο 1419.jpg, Ancient Greek leaf-and-dart on a

gorytos A gorytos (, ) is a type of leather bow-case for a short composite bow used by the Scythians in classical antiquity. They are a combination of bow case and quiver in one, and are worn on the archer's left hip with the opening tilted rearward. M ...

, 400-336 BC, silver and gold, Museum of the Royal Tombs of Aigai,

Vergina Vergina (, ) is a small town in Northern Greece, part of the Veria municipality in Imathia, Central Macedonia. Vergina was established in 1922 in the aftermath of the Population exchange between Greece and Turkey, population exchanges after t ...

, Greece File:Portico of the Trajaneum from Pergamon, 115-30 AD, in the Pergamon Museum (03).jpg,

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

leaf-and-dart of a portico of the Trajaneum from

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; ), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Aeolis. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on the north s ...

, 115-130 AD, stone,

Pergamon Museum The Pergamon Museum (; ) is a Kulturdenkmal , listed building on the Museum Island in the Mitte (locality), historic centre of Berlin, Germany. It was built from 1910 to 1930 by order of Emperor Wilhelm II, German Emperor, Wilhelm II and accordi ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

File:Altare di Marte e Venere, dal piazzale delle Corporazioni di Ostia, 06.JPG, Roman leaf-and-dart on an altar of Mars and Venus, 124, marble,

National Roman Museum of Palazzo Massimo The Palazzo Massimo alle Terme is the main of the four sites of the Museo Nazionale Romano, Roman National Museum, along with the original site of the Baths of Diocletian, which currently houses the Epigraphy, epigraphic and protohistoric section, ...

, Rome File:Efeso, tempio di adriano 08.JPG, Roman leaf-and-dart right above the

rinceau In architecture and the decorative arts, a rinceau (plural ''rinceaux''; from the French language, French, derived from old French ''rain'' 'branch with foliage') is a decorative form consisting of a continuous wavy stemlike motif from which smal ...

x and under the

dentil A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

s, on the Temple of Hadrianus,

Ephesus Ephesus (; ; ; may ultimately derive from ) was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia, in present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in the 10th century BC on the site of Apasa, the former Arzawan capital ...

, Turkey, unknown architect, 138 File:Ostia, terme del foro, capitello siriaco di epoca severiana.JPG, Roman leaf-and-dart on an

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

of the Baths at Ostia,

Ostia Antica Ostia Antica () is an ancient Roman city and the port of Rome located at the mouth of the Tiber. It is near modern Ostia, southwest of Rome. Due to silting and the invasion of sand, the site now lies from the sea. The name ''Ostia'' (the pl ...

, near modern Ostia, southwest of Rome, unknown architect, unknown date file:Temple-vesta-frise.jpg, Roman leaf-and-dart on the entablature of the

Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes, Aedes Vestae''; Italian language, Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the H ...

, Rome, unknown architect, unknown date File:Detail of the Panthéon in Paris (08).jpg, Neoclassical leaf-and-dart under the

Panthéon The Panthéon (, ), is a monument in the 5th arrondissement of Paris, France. It stands in the Latin Quarter, Paris, Latin Quarter (Quartier latin), atop the , in the centre of the , which was named after it. The edifice was built between 1758 ...

, Paris, unknown architect, unknown date File:Rais de coeur 2.jpg,

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

leaf-and-dart, illustrations from ''Materials and Documents of Architecture and Sculpture'', by R. Raguenet, 19th century

Notes

External links

Ornaments (architecture) Visual motifs {{architecturalelement-stub

Gallery

See also

Notes

External links