Sources have told Artlyst today that The Bayeux Tapestry will go on display at British Museum after the French Government agreed it could leave its shores for the first time in 950 years. French President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce the loan during his visit to the UK on Thursday, when he speaks with Prime Minister Theresa May. He has said the tapestry, which depicts the Norman Conquest of England would not be transferred before 2020 as it is still undergoing extensive conservation work.
“After months of talks between culture department officials in London and Paris the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry now seems a reality“
The loan of the iconic tapestry is still subject to the outcome of tests to make sure the 11th Century artwork was safe to move. The tapestry tells the story of the future William I’s conquest of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings and the defeat of Harold in 1066. The work of art is on permanent display at a museum in the town of Bayeux, in Normandy, and has rarely been moved.\
The embroidered cloth measures nearly 70 metres (230 ft) long and 50 centimetres (20 in) tall. It depicts the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England concerning William, Duke of Normandy, and Harold, Earl of Wessex, later King of England, and culminating in the Battle of Hastings. It is thought to date to the 11th century, within a few years after the battle. It tells the story from the point of view of the conquering Normans. According to Sylvette Lemagnen, conservator of the tapestry, in her 2005 book La Tapisserie de Bayeux: The Bayeux tapestry is one of the supreme achievements of the Norman Romanesque …. Its survival almost intact over nine centuries is little short of miraculous.Its exceptional length, the harmony and freshness of its colours, its exquisite workmanship, and the genius of its guiding spirit combine to make it endlessly fascinating.
The tapestry consists of some fifty scenes with Latin tituli, embroidered on linen with coloured woollen yarns. It is likely that it was commissioned by Bishop Odo, William’s half-brother, and made in England—not Bayeux—in the 1070s. In 1729 the hanging was rediscovered by scholars at a time when it was being displayed annually in Bayeux Cathedral. The tapestry is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Bayeux, Normandy, France
The designs on the Bayeux Tapestry are embroidered rather than woven, so that it is not technically a tapestry. Nevertheless, it has always been referred to as a tapestry until recent years, when the name “Bayeux Embroidery” has gained ground among certain art historians. The tapestry can be seen as a perfect example of secular Norman art. Tapestries adorned both churches and wealthy houses in Medieval western Europe, though at 0.5 by 68.38 metres (1.6 by 224.3 ft, and apparently incomplete) the Bayeux Tapestry is exceptionally large. Only the figures and decoration are embroidered, on a background left plain, which shows the subject very clearly and was necessary to cover large areas.