Bayeux Tapestry is protected to journey to UK, insists British Museum director – The Artwork Newspaper

The director of the British Museum, Nicholas Cullinan, has addressed rising considerations that the Bayeux Tapestry is just too fragile to journey to the UK subsequent yr. In a letter published by the Guardian, Cullinan stresses that every one due diligence has been carried out to make sure that the 1,000-year-old embroidery shall be safely transported.

Cullinan’s feedback come after considerations have been raised in a web-based petition, which has since garnered greater than 71,000 signatures. The petition, launched in mid-July by the artwork historian Didier Rykner, cites warnings from textile restorers {that a} transfer might danger damaging the 1,000-year-old work’s embroidered linen material.

However, in his letter Cullinan writes: “I want to be clear about the detailed work under way in both countries. Since a partnership agreement was signed earlier this summer, experts on both sides of the Channel have been carrying out rigorous planning and due diligence to ensure the safe transport and conservation of the tapestry.

“Colleagues in France are preparing for its careful removal before work begins on their new museum, and intricate plans are being made for its journey to London. This expert-led collaboration—indeed, supported for 12 years by one of our leading specialists on the Bayeux scientific committee—will guide every stage, including a full dry run of the journey.”

He provides that the tapestry shall be proven on a state-of-the-art desk designed to assist its long-term preservation, permitting guests to see it in a brand new means. “That same table will later be used when the Bayeux Museum reopens, ensuring continued conservation of this unique masterpiece,” Cullinan says.

A spokesperson for the Bayeux Tapestry Museum beforehand stated: “The French state owns the tapestry and the museum is only its custodian. We therefore can’t answer questions on its conservation and restoration, nor on the organisation of the loan, which is the responsibility of the state.”

The tapestry, which celebrates William the Conqueror’s victory within the Battle of Hastings in 1066, is scheduled to be proven in London between September 2026 and July 2027, throughout a deliberate closure of the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy for renovation and growth.

In return, a few of the British Museum’s treasures—together with the Lewis chessmen, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Mold gold cape, and the Dunaverney flesh hook—will journey to Normandy, confirms Cullinan. The collaboration was introduced in July by the French president Emmanuel Macron and the British prime minister Keir Starmer on the British Museum.