Bayeux Tapestry Loan to British Museum: Emmanuel Macron Ignores Two Studies Advising Against Transporting the Work

Reports are categorical: moving the Bayeux Tapestry is strongly discouraged . This is nothing to worry the head of state about. At the beginning of July, Emmanuel Macron announced with great fanfare the loan of the tapestry to the British Museum in London. It is to be exhibited there from September 2026 to June 2027.

The 70-meter-long, thousand-year-old embroidery depicting William of Normandy's conquest of England is about to cross the Channel. "A fantastic initiative," eagerly welcomed British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The kingdom has been trying to bring the tapestry over for years. In 1953, for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, and again in 1966 to celebrate the anniversary of the Norman Conquest of England.

While the haste on the Albion side is understandable, on the French side, the decision to loan the work seems to ignore all the warnings issued by the cultural world and other art curators. An article published this Wednesday, August 27, by the newspaper Le Monde reveals the contents of official reports, all of which deliver an alarming assessment of the painting.

The first, carried out in 2020 by eight restorers commissioned by the Normandy Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC), reported 24,000 stains on the canvas, 16,445 creases recorded and around thirty tears. In 2021, a preliminary study for the restoration of the tapestry was carried out. The conclusions were clear: any long-distance transport, beyond one hour, is "strongly discouraged" . Moving the tapestry would expose the embroidery to "additional risks due to its dimensions, structure and mechanical fragility ," states the report cited by the daily.

Thus, the longer the journey, "the longer the accumulation time of micro-alterations increases, and the greater the risk of visible and irreversible alterations appearing," notes the study, which also highlights the possibility of thread breaks and enlargement of tears.

More recently, in March 2022, a new study was conducted to assess the feasibility of transporting the work to a London museum. The work is being led by a consortium of multidisciplinary restorers, supported by a specialized art transport company. Their findings do not differ from previous studies: transporting the Bayeux Tapestry is strongly discouraged. According to the consortium, the least risky way to transport the work is by land, but this technique is not without its dangers.

Yet Emmanuel Macron is not changing course. The tapestry will go to England . "The Bayeux Tapestry is not absolutely untransportable," Philippe Bélaval, a former cultural advisor at the Élysée Palace and now Emmanuel Macron's entrusted representative for the loan of the famous embroidery, told Le Monde . The cost of the operation, which will be entirely covered by the British, promises to be colossal, in the order of several million euros.

Civil society is not particularly enthusiastic about the artwork's transport across the Channel. A petition against the loan of the tapestry, posted online on July 13, has garnered more than 60,000 signatures. Launched by Didier Rykner, editorial director of the online magazine La Tribune de l'art, the petition "solemnly asks the President of the Republic to abandon this project." "The Bayeux Tapestry dates from the end of the 11th century. It is therefore almost a millennium old," the Change.org website states.

"Tapestry specialists, restorers who work on it, and conservators say there is a risk of tears and material falling out due to handling and vibrations during transport," Didier Rykner also points out. " It is unacceptable to take the risk of this absolutely unique work being damaged."