This analysis of the historical understanding of Marsilio Ficino’s commentary on Plato’s Symposium sets it in relationship to the philosophical interpretation of Eros in Plato and Plotinus, while at the same time providing a multi-faceted description of the place of Ficino’s philosophy in the intellectual and spiritual development of the Italian Renaissance. The particular role of Ficino’s commentary on Plato’s Symposium, De amore, within the context of the discourse of love as discussed in vernacular languages in 15th-century Florence is considered, and well as opening up Ficino to further interpretation.