The 230-foot-long Bayeux Tapestry will head to the UK in July to go on display at the British Museum. A new report, presented by the French Culture Ministry on Wednesday, expresses confidence that the fragile piece will not be threatened by the move, reports Le Monde.
Dating to the 11th century, the artwork, which is designated in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register as a “unique work,” depicts the triumph of William the Conqueror at the Battle of Hastings in 1066. A 2021 assessment found that the artifact (technically an embroidery) bears 24,000 stains, 16,445 creases, nearly 10,000 areas of damage, and about 30 tears. Tiny cracks are everywhere. So it’s not surprising that La Tribune de l’Art racked up nearly 80,000 signatures on a petition against the move, notes Le Monde.
But director general of heritage and architecture Delphine Christophe says she is “extremely confident,” adding that “nothing has been left to chance.”
Also bullish on the move is Lucie Delhomme, museum manager at transport company Hizkia. “I was worried before we ran the tests,” she told Le Monde. “But many people, with a great deal of skill and experience, are working on this project.”
Even conservator Thalia Bajon Bouzid, who contributed to reports in 2021 and 2022 that expressed great caution about the possibility of a move, says she is “reassured,” though she added that “we remain vigilant and concerned.”
The main threat is vibrations, but with the help of vibration expert Kerstin Kracht, those have been reduced by 96 percent, says the report, to the same level a sculpture experiences on a plinth in a museum as visitors walk by.
The move is funded by the British government, which has set aside some £1.2 million ($1.6 million) to cover the transport. The insurance costs and the exact route remain secret. The British Museum will charge between $32 and $45; Le Monde calculates that ticket sales may tally more than $11.6 million.
To justify those ticket prices, the British Museum is pulling out all the stops, even installing a canopy of silver birch trees in the forecourt as well as planters with other trees and perennials, all to evoke a medieval woodland like the one in East Sussex, where the battle was fought, as depicted in some scenes in the artwork.
Experts have built a unique 1.6-ton, climate-controlled crate to transport the tapestry. The artifact will float inside it in an interior container suspended inside a metal cage by 12 shock absorbers, “like a baby in a cradle,” according to Kracht in Le Monde. The makers did two test runs with a replica of identical size and weight to the tapestry, one in a Mercedes truck from Bayeux to London, in a secret February dry run, another in public in April. Experts logged the location of every bump in the road and every pothole. Yet another rehearsal is planned for July, just days before the actual move.
Once the piece arrives, some 16 French and British conservators will spend three weeks inspecting the piece before it goes on view on a custom-built table.
Delhomme professes to see no weak spots in the system, proclaiming, “We are ready.”
