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How is the Immaculate Heart of Mary commonly shown in religious art?

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Antonello da Messina: Madonna and Child — Mary *Madonna and Child*, oil and tempera on panel by Antonello da Messina, 1475; in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C.

In religious art, the Immaculate Heart of Mary is typically depicted as a flaming heart encircled by a crown of roses and pierced by a sword.21

This iconography serves to symbolize Mary's interior life, specifically her deep faithfulness to God and the sorrow she experienced regarding the death of Jesus and human sin. While the imagery shares similarities with the Sacred Heart of Jesus—which is often shown with a crown of thorns and radiating light—the inclusion of roses and the sword are the distinct features associated with the Immaculate Heart of Mary.21