Noster Moyses papa. A theological-political metaphor in the conflict between Sixtus IV and the Medici

Abstract

The identification of the pope as new Moses, absolute holder of political and spiritual power, was the fulcrum of the ideology of primatus papae promoted by Sixtus IV. In particular, after the tragic events that followed the Pazzi conspiracy (1478) and caused the conflict between Rome and Florence, a real “propaganda war” broke out. In this context, Pope della Rovere decided to reaffirm the theological-political code of Moyses typus papae – Moses as a type of the pope – in various documents (especially in the Sistine bull Ad apostolice dignitatis auctoritatem, in the Dissentio inter sanctissimum dominum nostrum Papam et Florentinos suborta, and even in the frescoes on the side walls of the Sistine Chapel, made by a group of famous painters – including several Florentine artists – probably under the direction of Perugino). Therefore this paper aims to describe how Sixtus IV made use of the Mosaic metaphor showing its centrality in the Pontifical propaganda.