Bayeux Tapestry loan to Britain delayed by French riots
The nearly 1,000-year-old work is due to be displayed at the British Museum for 10 months
France has postponed the transfer of the Bayeux Tapestry to Britain over fears that “social unrest” linked to mass strikes on Thursday could pose a safety risk.
Emmanuel Macron, France’s president, announced during his state visit to Britain in July that the nearly 1,000-year-old work would be loaned to the British Museum in London for 10 months.
The fragile tapestry was due to be transported from Bayeux in Normandy, where it is usually exhibited, to London, in exchange for ancient “treasures”, mainly from the Anglo-Saxon Sutton Hoo site.
“Due to the expected mobilisation tomorrow in the Calvados department, the prefect does not feel able to ensure the security of such a high-profile transfer and [...] of such a costly work,” said Philippe Bélaval, responsible for lending this work to the British Museum on behalf of the Elysée. He added that the transfer would take place “in the coming days”.
Some 800,000 people are expected to heed a mass strike call from all of France’s main trade unions on Thursday to protest against a planned cost-cutting budget.
Around 80,000 police are to be deployed in what many are predicting will be the largest show of force since the 2023 demonstrations against pension reforms.
Paris’s police chief warned on Wednesday that he was “very worried” about violent “black blocs”, masked agitators, joining union marches in order to smash shops and clash with the police.
The loan has sparked controversy in France, with more than 60,000 people signing a petition warning that moving the fragile tapestry would be a “true crime against heritage”.
Experts warn the embroidery — scarred by 24,000 stains, 16,000 creases, nearly 10,000 holes and 30 rips — is far too fragile to cross the Channel.
Despite the concerns, Mr Macron last month hailed the “unprecedented exchange” as a chance to revitalise cultural ties and trust between the two countries.
Lisa Nandy, the UK Culture Secretary, called the 68-metre-long (224-foot-long) piece, which dates from around 1077, “one of the most iconic pieces of art ever produced in the UK”.
“The British Museum is one of the world’s most visited museums and is a fitting place to host this most treasured piece of our nation’s history,” she said.
If the loan goes ahead, it would be a first in nearly a thousand years. The Bayeux Tapestry is thought to have been made by nuns in Canterbury, but has never crossed back over the Channel since completion.
Napoleon Bonaparte briefly exhibited it in Paris in 1804, and Heinrich Himmler, the Nazi grandee, ordered its transfer to the Louvre during the Second World War. But it has never left French soil.
Patrick Gomont, Bayeux’s Right-wing mayor, dismissed concerns over the loan, pointing out that in any case, it has to be moved as the museum that normally houses the tapestry is to close for two years for renovation from September 1.
It will be reopened in time for the 1,000th anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror.
“For 10 years, I’ve been told it can’t be transported,” Mr Gomont told Le Monde. “When people don’t want something, they come up with every argument against it. I don’t see why the Bayeux Tapestry would be better folded in a crate than displayed to the British public, as long as presentation and lighting recommendations are followed.”
Antoine Verney, curator of the Bayeux museums, told the paper: “I have no doubt that we share the same conservation requirements as the British Museum. The rules must be strictly identical to those imposed on us as custodians of the work.”
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
