THE BATTLE OF BAYEUX
France’s offer to send treasure to UK hits a stumbling block... as mayor demands ‘certain conditions’
IT depicts one of the most famous battles in English history. And now swords could be drawn again with the French – over a promise to display the Bayeux Tapestry in Britain.
Yesterday France’s president offered to lend the priceless work to Britain in a gesture Theresa May hailed as ‘very significant’.
But it seemed nobody asked the mayor of Bayeux – who has said ‘non’ unless ‘certain conditions’ are met.
Officials insisted the masterpiece would not cross the Channel before 2023, that it would stay only a matter of months, and that it would happen in winter when fewer tourists visit Bayeux.
In a statement by the Bayeux Museum, where the 11th-century tapestry is on permanent display, mayor Patrick Gomont said: ‘The most important thing is the conservation of the work. The town, the services of the state, are open to the loan but on certain conditions.’
Mr Gomont also hinted that the UK should contribute to its upkeep, telling a press conference: ‘The tapestry was weaved in England, it would be incredible for it to be restored in the land where it was created.’
The mayor said he was speaking about the plans in the ‘conditional tense’ and that there were still lots of ‘hypotheses’ that need to be answered.
Asked if the town of Bayeux could block the move to lend the work, he said: ‘We can oppose it.’
Mr Gomont added in an interview with local media: ‘Our British friends really want it, we are not opposed but all of the conditions still need to be defined.’
But French historian Eric Anceau tweeted about the tapestry yesterday: ‘Aside from its great fragility, it is all very regrettable after Brexit.
‘On the contrary, shouldn’t the British be incentivised to cross the Channel?’
Although French president Emmanuel Macron’s office said the tapestry could be moved in 2020, Bayeux yesterday said the earliest date would in fact be 2023.
Under an agreement signed last year, the town of Bayeux and the region of Normandy are responsible for the tapestry’s upkeep and restoration – not France’s central government – and they have the right to block the move.
A poll by local website OuestFrance Bayeux yesterday on Facebook showed that 85 per cent were against the tapestry moving to Britain.
The British Museum, in central London, is regarded as the favourite to host the masterpiece if it comes to Britain. Mrs May will discuss the loan when she meets the French president today.
Details also emerged yesterday of the complex operation in moving the artwork.
French historian Pierre Bouet, who helped to move the fragile tapestry last January, told website Ouest-France: ‘There were around 60 of us and we slid it along a stand centimetre by centimetre. It’s an extremely delicate operation.’
Alexandra Makin, who specialises in early medieval embroidery, said: ‘You can move it if it’s got specially constructed containers, and curators on both sides of the Channel will be looking to see if it’s viable to do that.’
A spokesman for Mr Macron’s office said: ‘This loan is under consideration, because there will be several months of restoration work at the Museum of Bayeux.’
Antoine Verney, director of the Bayeux Museum, insisted ‘nothing is set in stone’ and that the feasibility of the loan would be explored in the coming years.
‘We can oppose it’
WAS Emmanuel Macron’s decision to lend us the Bayeux Tapestry meant to remind us of a great French victory on British soil? If so he’s on very thin ice.
To begin with, Normandy wasn’t even part of France in 1066. And while there hasn’t been a foreign victory here of any description since then, France has had its nose bloodied countless times. (What about Agincourt and Crecy, Mr Macron?)
Also, there’s strong evidence that the tapestry was created in Kent. So in reality, we’re not borrowing it – it’s coming home.