Test trips, double box, insurance: the Bayeux tapestry undertakes careful transport

She is preparing for her third journey in 960 years. A masterpiece of embroidered linen, the Bayeux Tapestry will cross the Channel, heading to the British Museum in London (United Kingdom), in July. The announcement in July 2025 by Emmanuel Macron of the loan of this thousand-year-old work had aroused the concern of experts, who warned of the risks of long transport duration of this embroidery, 68.5 meters long and weakened by the years. This Wednesday, May 3, a favorable opinion was issued by the Minister of Culture to the transport process specially developed for the Bayeux tapestry.

Catherine Pégard even assured that “nothing has been left to chance” regarding the upcoming transport of the Bayeux tapestry to London, where it is to be exhibited for a year, from September to July 2027. “Undoubtedly never in the history of the transport of works art, as many tests, as many protocols, as many risk controls have been carried out for a single trip”, supported the Minister of Culture.

24,000 stains, 16,445 folds, more than 10,000 alterations

Classified in the Unesco “Memory†register as a “vulnerable work†and “unique documentary source in the world†, the tapestry with 58 scenes recounting the battle for the throne of England led by William the Conqueror presents 24,000 stains, 16,445 folds, tens of thousands of alterations and tears that the slightest movement aggravates. A petition launched by La Tribune de l’Art against this cross-border movement had collected more than 75,000 signatures, without result.

A fragility of the tapestry, however, taken seriously by the Ministry of Culture, which commissioned two studies from 2020 followed by two mock trips with a facsimile to determine the feasibility of transporting the tapestry, in detail. This resulted in the construction of a tailor-made body by the Dutch company Hizkia, which won the call for tenders. The objective? Protect the work from shock and vibration.

Body modeled on a cradle

Folded like an accordion for several months, the tapestry will therefore be slipped into a box made of fairly insulating materials to protect it from “climatic and environmental variations”. A second aluminum structure will surround the box thanks to huge springs specially designed to “absorb shocks”; a system close to the pram, “in which a newborn would have been placed”, outlines Catherine Pégard, adding that “the terms and dates of transport of the work will remain strictly confidential for obvious reasons of safety and security†.

If “zero risk does not exist”, said the minister on Wednesday May 3, the United Kingdom’s special envoy for the loan of the tapestry, Lord Ricketts, reaffirmed his country’s “total commitment” to the protection of the work. The British government has also committed to releasing up to 925 million euros in the event of damage.

On its return to France at the end of 2027, the Bayeux tapestry will undergo a restoration which had been planned for a long time and which had been postponed.