Artist David Hockney has called plans to bring the Bayeux Tapestry to the UK later this year “madness”, warning that the journey alone poses an unnecessary danger to the work.
The 70-metre-long embroidery, created more than 900 years ago, is scheduled to go on show at the British Museum in London in September.
Writing in the Independent, Hockney described the tapestry as “beautiful as well as historically important”, arguing that it could be damaged during transport and “will be put in jeopardy if it is moved to London”. The British Museum has pushed back against those concerns. Its director, Nicholas Cullinan, said: “While we understand these concerns, the museum has a world-leading conservation and collections team who are experts at handling and caring for this type of material.”
Under an agreement between the French and British governments, the tapestry is being loaned to the British Museum until July 2027. Its usual home, the Bayeux Museum in Normandy, is currently closed for renovation. Reservations about the move are not limited to Britain. Several French art specialists have also raised doubts, saying the tapestry is too fragile to travel. French officials, though, maintain that it can be transported safely.
Hockney, who now lives in Normandy, said he first encountered the tapestry in 1967 and has seen it more than 20 times in the past three years. He described it as “something that has defined my life for more than eight decades”. “Some things are too precious to take a risk with,” the 88-year-old wrote. “Moving the Bayeux Tapestry is one of them. “It is nearly a thousand years old, the most complete narrative work of art in Europe, and remember it is very long, more than 70 metres in length. “It is fragile, which makes it madness to think of moving it. It is too big a risk.”
The Treasury is insuring the tapestry for £800m while it is in the UK. Hockney dismissed that figure as “meaningless”, adding: “It is priceless.”
He argued that transporting the work for exhibition involves “significant risk”. “The linen backing is weakened by age, and the wool embroidery threads are vulnerable to stress,” he said, noting that he had looked closely into the conservation issues. “Rolling, unrolling or handling it in a new way can cause damage.” For centuries, he added, the tapestry has been kept safe in Bayeux, preserved in “tightly-controlled conditions”. The embroidery has already been removed from display and placed in storage ahead of its planned transfer to London.
Hockney suggested the move was driven by “the vanity of a museum which wants to boast of the number of visitors”. The British Museum said it is working closely with French conservators and specialists in advance of the loan. Cullinan said the institution “sends and receives thousands of loans each year – including ancient frescoes and textiles which are older than the Bayeux tapestry”. Their care, he added, is “always of paramount importance”.
The Bayeux Tapestry narrates the events leading up to the Norman conquest of England in 1066 and is widely thought to have been made in Kent. It consists of 58 scenes, 626 figures and 202 horses, culminating in William the Conqueror’s victory over Harold Godwinson and his accession as England’s first Norman king.
In return for the loan, several British treasures will travel to Normandy, including artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon burial site at Sutton Hoo and the 12th-century Lewis chess pieces.