Larceny at the Louvre

By Alex Miller

The art world was shocked by the theft of several items from the French Crown Jewels collection at the Louvre Museum in Paris on 19 October 2025.  The heist occurred just a half hour after opening, when robbers disguised as workmen gained access to the Apollon Gallery via a hoist to a balcony, using glass-cutters to enter.  The theft took less than seven minutes, with nine jeweled pieces stolen, ranging from earrings and necklaces to tiaras and crowns, all dating from the Napoleonic era.  As they absconded, the thieves dropped the crown of Empress Eugenie, wife of Napoleon III, recovered from the street, but damaged.  It was the first successful looting of the Louvre since 1998.

Multiple celestial indicators recorded the event, including an exact pairing of Mercury and Mars (both at 18 Scorpio), symbolizing thieves (Mercury-ruled) taking action (Mars).  A square to asteroid Louvre (12 Leo), named for the palatial museum, with asteroid Apollo (18 Leo), defines their field of action, also specifying the Apollon Gallery (Apollo in the original Greek form) as their immediate target.

Pluto (1 Aquarius) rules criminal activity, as well as large sums of money (the stolen jewels have an estimated $102 million value); here we see it conjunct the Midheaven (3 Aquarius) for the 9:30 AM CET break-in, the focus of all eyes, as this daring theft surely was.  Pluto forms a T-Square (1) with asteroid Apollonia (3 Scorpio), another match for the Apollon Gallery, and asteroid Kron (4 Taurus), derived from the German Krone, meaning “crown.”  The crown of the Empress Eugenie was the most high-profile item stolen, albeit the thieves dropped it in their escape.  Apollonia also widely conjoins the Sun (26 Libra), pulling focus to the Appolon Gallery for the timeframe.

The shock value to Paris, all of France, and the world at large is conveyed by an exact union of asteroid Paris, named for the City of Light, with Uranus (both at 0 Gemini), ruling shocks and upsets, which closely aligns with the Ascendant (3 Gemini), placing the event in a strong Angular (2) position for the moment.  A second T-Square is formed with two asteroids which can be related to theft, with squares (90 degrees) to asteroids Steel (7 Virgo), homophone of “steal,” and Robbia (2 Pisces), suggesting a robbery.

Uranus/Paris also forms a Grand Trine Kite pattern (3) by trines with Pluto (criminality) and a precise Moon/Venus pairing (7 Libra), suggesting art (Venus) on public display (Moon).  The String of the Kite is an opposition from Moon/Venus to Neptune (0 Aries), representing the disguise and subterfuge the thieves used to gain access.

Many of the stolen pieces were once owned by Hortense de Beauharnais, stepdaughter of Napoleon (a daughter of empress Josephine by her first husband), also married to his brother Louis, whom Napoleon created King of Holland in 1806.  Asteroid Hortensia (25 Cancer), conjoins Jupiter (24 Cancer), symbolizing royalty, in a third T-Square with the Sun and asteroid NOT (23 Capricorn), a marker of negation or loss.  Although her crown was recovered, Empress Eugenie’s tiara and bodice bow remain missing, with asteroid Eugenia (25 Gemini), a point named for her (the first living person to be an asteroid designee) squared Saturn, also indicating loss.

Notes:  (1) A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

(2) The “Angles” are the cardinal directional points, where celestial bodies rise (Ascendant) and set (Descendant) at the horizon, or achieve highest (Midheaven, or MC) or lowest elevations (Nadir, or IC). Placement here signifies enhanced importance in character or biography.

(3) A Kite is special type of Grand Trine, with one or more points opposing one of the three primary Grand Trine points.  The point in opposition is termed the “String,” and guides the operation and manifestation of the Kite itself.

Sources:  reporting from MSNBC, Wikipedia; graphic images by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT