As per my earlier post re: the bearded star [comet] of Catone, linking the image with the contemporary Angelus Catone who interpreted the comet of 1472 as forthcoming successes of the Turks, from which then there is possibly a parallel being drawn between the threat against Rome from the Carthagians in classical times to that posed by the Ottoman Empire against the Holy Roman Empire in current times. Cato's call for the destruction of Carthage is echoed in current times among those factions calling for a crusade against the Turks.Ross G. R. Caldwell wrote: 17 Aug 2020, 07:43 Do you have a theory about what the overall metaphor of the Punic wars meant in the context the Sola Busca was created in? Was it some current war?
Many of the possible contemporary figures I have explored seem to have some connection to Naples, more especially within the relationships between Naples, Ferrara and Hungary. Naples was with Ferrara in the War of Ferrara of course, and Mathias Corvino was keen to defend Ferrara against Venice, though more keen in seeking reparation with Venice and all parties uniting against the Turks, an alliance against the Turks which he had long desired but had been frustrated in and virtually given up on. Just prior to the War of Ferrara, 1482-84 the Turks had taken Otranto in Southern Italy 1480-81 - and the Pope Sixtus IV repeated his 1471 call for another crusade, to which Corvino among others responded positively, and supplied Hungarian troops to fight against the Turks in Otranta. Once the threat to Otranta was dealt with however, instead of pushing through with uniting allies for a crusade, the Pope with Venetian allies turns of Ferrara. The continuing dissent within Christendom was one that many felt only gave strength to the Turks. Such dissension, as Folengo in his tarot sonnet for Falcone would later put it in the 16th century, allowed 'the Moon to grow.'
Since the Turks had taken Constantinople the threat of the Otoman Empire was one that persisted as part of the general background and grew in strength throughout the 15th and 16th centuries [and longer] - so perhaps the growing threat and anxiety can be seen as a general background one than to any particular incident.