This book is a real tour de force, starting out with a discussion of the term ‘mysteries’ and its three different modes of "the ritual, the figurative, and the magical"; pointing to its inherent meaning of ‘initiation’ and how Plato viewed philosophy itself as a mystical initiation. - Wind first turns his attention the triad of the Graces as he guides us through the numerous Renaissance expressions of the Neoplatonic concept of emanation and triads, and - towards the end of the book - descends all the way down to Hades and the triple headed Cerberus, only to bring us effortlessly back to the Apollonian heaven by hitching a ride on the (circular) serpent, symbol of eternity, as depicted in Gafurius's 'Music of the Spheres' and more obviously on the medal of Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de’ Medici, where the serpent in a "circle of perfection" touches the ground, while the main portion of its body curves into the higher realms. “Non tota descendit anima quum descendit.” - These examples are simply to demonstrate how Wind always makes use of the illustrations in combination with the text; the more than 100 plates are consistently referred to and often approached from different angles throughout the various chapters.
The main portion of the book is of course dedicated to the more intermediate realms which also were the principal areas of focus for the pursuits of the Renaissance humanists; e.g. the image of Blind Love as the power ‘above the intellect’, and, as the chapter titles suggests: 'Virtue Reconciled with Pleasure', 'Sacred and Profane Love', 'The Flaying of Marsyas', 'Pan and Proteus'.. ("In the ever changing balance de dieux the [Orphic] gods reveal their Protean nature: but the very fact that each god contains his opposite in himself, and can change into it when occasion demands, makes him shadow forth the nature of Pan in whom all opposites are one." p. 199) – this chapter also contains a discussion of the double-headed Janus, who 'can at the same time see the spiritual things and provide for the material'.. - here Wind quotes Pico della Mirandola, as he often does throughout the book, alongside many others, and all the way he demonstrates his scholarship not only by his obvious mastery of the subject but also by consistently quoting or referring to the original sources.
I very much appreciated Wind’s discussion of Botticelli's 'Primavera' and 'Birth of Venus', and as well his chapter on Michelangelo's 'Bacchus'. - There are ample footnotes, which for the most part add a lot to the the text. In spite of the fact that Wind quotes his sources in six languages (including Latin and Greek), often without any translations, I didn’t find this book a difficult read – though I no doubt would have gotten a lot more out of it if the translations had been there – it is the only thing I found lacking in this book. The discussion never gets dry because Wind approaches it with a passionate seriousness that also allows for the occasional glimmer of humor, as well as at times taking colleagues to task for having done shoddy work. The subject itself, that of pagan mysteries in the Renaissance, certainly contains a fascinating richness, but Wind manages to add to it by creating a lens through which it can be viewed also with Renaissance eyes. It is a book to return to, not only for reference, but also simply to enjoy.
This short review, alongside my own lack of scholarship, cannot do the book any real justice, but suffice to say that I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in e.g. art history, paganism, or Neoplatonism in the Renaissance. Wind’s book also gave me plenty of incentive for further reading; something that I consider worthy of a medal of honor for any scholarly work.




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Eye-opening, but not as dense as I was hoping. I was a little disappointed that the quotations weren't translated, making it difficult for a non-academic to enjoy to the fullest. That being said, this book revealed new paths for me, though, in many cases, the doors blocking those ways remain locked in untranslated form. It really seems I must learn Latin and Italian and German to continue my journey, unless this new generation of PhDs and publishers gets excited about these otherwise languishing works. ( )

The writers on art have hopelessly outstripped the writers on literature in our period. Seznec, Wind, and Gombrich are a very big three indeed.
- from a 10 August 1962 letter to Christopher Derrick, in The collected letters of C.S. Lewis, volume III ( )