Michelangelo vs Leonardo

Introduction

Who is the best painter ever?

Why do we care?

It can be said, that there's no way of putting painters from the different historical periods in hierarchical rank order. Besides, we all have our own taste what is beautiful, and there no way of telling whose taste is the one.  Be that as it may, it is necessary here in order avoid cherry picking. They have to be top artists. When the top genius are found and studied, every single one ( who's birth data is available) them has to be included in accordance with their rank order. That's what we are going to do here. According to Ranker-website, where one can vote on everything the best painters ever are

1. Leonardo da Vinci
2. Vincent van Gogh
3. Michelangelo
4. Rembrandt (X)
5. Pablo Picasso
6. Raphael
7. Jonannes Vermeer (X)
8. Claude Monet (X)
9. Caravaggio (X)
10. Pierre-Auguste Renoir

X after the painter's name tells us no A(A) birth data is available and they are excluded from our study. Others we study one (or two) by one. That's what's happening next, though I can't promise there will be no side quests before are finished with the painters. Next we'll demonstrate it. What we are looking for?  Constellations of dominance. When Sun and/or Moon + Jupiter/Saturn/Uranus/Neptune (one or several of these) + Pluto are together in a aspect pattern, midpoint or joint midpoit axis the constellation of dominance is formed. Some stronger, some weaker. The aim is not only to demonstrate that these are common among top geniuses, but also to present a relatively simple astrological technique that works consistently. One can use these same principles when interpreting the charts of the common people.

Michelangelo and Leonardo

Meet Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo, one of the greatest painters ever. Leonardo is ranked first and Michelangelo respectively third. They were also contemporary artists, Leonardo was born 1452, and Michelangelo 22 years later. They were artist rivals and they even needled each others in public occasions, Michelangelo being more active in this regard. Michelangelo referred to Leonardo's frequent failure to finish works that were, as he claimed, due to artistic deficiency. Later Leonardo articulated (at least in his diaries) anatomical short comings of Michelangelo's anatomy in his art. Interestingly, according to the historical records it seems likely that another contemporary, Niccolo Macchiavelli provoked the spat between these two. There are clues that before they were foes they had been on much better terms, Michelangelo for example picked up some of the ways of Leonardo's drawings. They both also shared common interest in  younger men, However, Leonardo was relaxed about this, Michelangelo by contrast was agonized by it. Leonardo was handsome, eloquent and dandyishly well dressed, whereas Michelangelo had a badly broken nose and extremely sharp tongue. Leonardo wasn't the only artist he ridiculed. He was in artistic rivalry relationship also with Raphael among other colleagues. In art, Michelangelo was obsessed with  the naked male body, while Leonardo was the keen observer of the natural world.

Charts

Below there are the charts of Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo. 

Let us look at the Michelangelo's chart first. Here we see the primal constellation of dominance. Midpoint between Moon and Jupiter opposes Sa/Pl midpoint, i.e.formally represented there's Mo/Ju=Sa/Pl (180). Marked by the color red in chart. Note that this opposition is quite exact. In addition, this opposition squares Ur/Ne midpoint. So here we have T-square that is formed by Mo/Ju, Sa/Pl and Ur/Ne midpoints.

Leonardo has similar constellations in his chart. He has relatively tight Moon/Jupiter conjunction in his chart and Sa/Ur and Ne/Pl midpoints oppose Moon/Jupiter conjunction and as well as Mo/Ju midpoint, relatively tightly also. To put it formally Mo/Ju=Sa/Ur (180)=Ne/Plu. 

We can notice that the planets that form this constellation are the same in both charts: Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto - what are the chances of that! It appears that it doesn't really matter that much which midpoints form the midpoint constellation. The more important thing is which planets are involved. In line with astrological reasoning the outer planet is the modifier and the inner planets is the receiver. The chain of influence is always the same in the descending order: Pluto - > Neptune -> Uranus -> Saturn -> Jupiter and so on.  Interesting thing in this constellation is that all the planets besides Moon are the farthest planets possible in six planet constellation. When there no personal planets presents, I am inclined to think that the constellation like this is a sign of universal genius.

There are other constellations of dominance in these chart. Let's take a look, Michelangelo first.

As it can be seen Michelangelo has a Ju/Ur=Mo/NN conjunction that opposes Su/Plu midpoint. This constellation seems to be near the axis which increases its influence, though the exact birth time is uncertain.

In Leonardo's chart there's very similar constellation. Let's have a look.

He has Ju/NN and Mo/NN that oppose Pluto and square Sun. Planets are again the same except for Uranus is missing and Venus is present in Leonardo's constellation.

Venus in painter's chart

When dealing with the charts of artists, Venus is of course planet of interest. Michelangelo has a quite self evident and meaningful midpoint constellation, that of So/Mo=Ve/Ju. One could hardly imagine more telling single astrological constellation than this, where Ve/Ju is infused with the life forces Sun and Moon. There's also a midpoint constellation Mo/Ur=Ve/Pl, which is interesting here because it involves Moon and Venus as well as Pluto. In Leonardo's chart there's a midpoint Ve/Sa=90-Sun, which tells us that beauty and art are something that are to be taken seriously. Ve/Sa=Pl midpoint is also interesting in so far that Sa/Pl tends to put Venus to work hard and utilizes its potential fully. Midpoint Ve/Plu=Neptune (90) is also worth noting. Interestingly, Michelangelo's Venus is aspected by Saturn (square), Neptune (quincunx) and Pluto (a loose quincunx). Again the same planets, but different constellations. Generally speaking, in artist's chart Venus should be included in one or many dominance constellations or it should be in direct contact to Sun and/or Moon via aspects or midpoints. This "requirement" actualizes both ways in both charts.

Interpreting constellations of dominance

Now that we have seen the demonstration of the constellations of dominance in these charts, we face the apparent difficulty: many of these constellations involve 6 planets, how is it possible to interpret what they mean? Possibilities seem endless...and in the way they are, as these are constellations of genius. One feature of genius is an ability connect seemingly unrelated dots, come up with new perspective/way of seeing/doing things. A chart of genius typically has a high degree of connectivity, where many astrological factors are fused in chart's "hot spots". Abundance of active midpoints can be understood as a proxy of inter connectivity in astrological chart. There is no single factor of genius, it is a sum of multiple things, in astrology and in real life. All the planets contribute to genius, and the real question is, for the most part, in which way. Planets have multiple manifestations, but at this point I'd suggest the following description of attributes regarding different planets. 

Mercury: wits, hand-eye coordination, motor skills, dexterity

Venus: sense of beauty and harmony, ability to see oneness in apparent separation

Mars: vitality, stamina, vigor, technical ability

Jupiter: inspiration, physical and mental talent (abundance)

Saturn: hard work, concentration, persistence, sensibility

Uranus: thoughtfulness, rationality, originality (loyalty/dedication to personal reasoning)

Neptune: imagination, creativity, openness, receptivity

Pluto: focus, intensity, will, dedication, control

North node: subliminal activation of energy, forming subliminal connection to the planet involved

It can be difficult to perceive what conjunctions and oppositions of midpoints mean. One solution to this difficulty is to interchange the position of the planets involved. For example, if there's a constellation So/Sa=Mo/Plu, one can change the notation to the different form. In this case the more understandable formulation could be Su/Mo=Sa/Pl. 

Conclusions

-These great artists were temporary rivals whose dominance constellations very much resemble each others.

-There are two primary constellations of dominance in both charts.

*First involves Moon, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto in both charts. 

*The second one in Leonardo's chart includes Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Pluto and North Node. This constellation forms a T square.

*The second constellation in Michelangelo's chart involves Sun, Moon, Jupiter, Uranus, Pluto and North Node. This constellation is possibly on AC/DC axis.

-Especially relevant constellation in Michelangelo's chart with respect to his artistic ability and interest is Sun/Moon=Venus/Jupiter midpoint conjunction.

-Great artist's Venus is highlighted. It is in contact with the lights directly or via midpoints in the charts. Venus is often also a part of the constellation of dominance.

-All the planets have their specific role in forming the genius/excellence.