A petition to prevent France from loaning a fragile tapestry to the British Museum has amassed more than 64,000 signatures, urging France’s President Emmanuel Macron to listen to expert advice.
Experts who have worked with the nearly 1,000-year-old Bayeux tapestry say that transporting the work would be “catastrophic” and cause irreparable damage.
The 70m long medieval relic, which depicts William the Conqueror’s victory at the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is believed to have been created by English embroiderers, but has never been housed in the UK. President Macron announced in July that it would be loaned from next September.
The petition, organised by the editorial director of art news website La Tribune de l’Art, Didier Rykner, said: “President Macron has once again taken a catastrophic decision for our heritage, deciding alone, against the advice of conservators and restorers who know the Bayeux tapestry,” according to The Guardian.
He told the newspaper: “This is a purely political decision. Here is an extraordinary work of art, a wholly unique historical document, an artefact without equivalent anywhere – and which expert opinion agrees, overwhelmingly, cannot travel. It’s not complicated.”
Expert reports carried out in 2021 and 2021 advised against the work’s transportation, claiming it was too fragile, with a previous inspection in 2020 identifying around 24,200 stains and 10,000 holes in the work. Mr Rykner said restorers were adamant about the numerous risks involved.
In a statement, the Bayeux Museum said: “Together, we have developed engineering solutions for its delicate handling, particularly for moving it from the vertical position in which it has been displayed since its first public exhibition in 1842 to a horizontal position for its reinstallation in the new setting.”
In 2018, the museum’s chief curator, Antoine Verney, said he “could not conceive” of the tapestry being transported, given its condition.
The museum will be closing its doors from September 2025 as it begins restoration work.
President Macron had previously said in 2018 that he would send the tapestry to London, subject to the outcome of tests. Previous requests for the tapestry to be loaned to the UK, for Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1953 and the Battle of Hastings anniversary in 1966 were both rejected by France.
Mr Rykner said: “The last two times it was moved were first by Napoleon and then by the Germans (during the Nazi occupation). I cannot think of why you would want to be the third to move it.”
Nicholas Cullinan, Director of the British Museum, said: “The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important and unique cultural artefacts in the world, which illustrates the deep ties between Britain and France and has fascinated people across geographies and generations.
“It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum and we are profoundly grateful to everyone involved.”
The museum claimed its conservation and collections management team was experienced at handling and caring for this type of material.
