With Valentine’s Day just around the corner, today’s post by Fang from the Visitor Team, is all about love!

And for more about the objects and collections at Manchester Museum, have a look at the Curators’ blogs.

All about love …

Valentine’s Day is coming soon. In anticipation of a day all about love, I’ve taken a look at some of the objects at Manchester Museum that can be associated with love.

Love flower – the rose, a symbol of love

Roses are the most popular flower in the world. They have a long history and are thought to have first been cultivated in ancient Babylonia and Assyria before finding their way to Europe. It wasn’t until the early 19^th century that rose breeding really took off, with people crossing all available roses. The result is that there are over 30,000 varieties  in existence today.

Roses have been present…