The Bayeux Tapestry is going on show at the British Museum later this year in what the attraction is calling the “blockbuster show of our generation”.
The tapestry’s return to the UK for the first time in nearly 1,000 years this summer has attracted controversy given its age and frail condition.
More than 77,000 people have signed a petition attempting to block the move of the artwork from its home at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Normandy, which is currently closed for renovation.
Measuring 230 feet in length and 20 inches in height, the woven linen and wool cloth already has 24,000 stains, 16,000 creases, nearly 10,000 holes and 30 rips.
There will be a reported cost to the taxpayer of £800 million if it encounters damage during its visit.
George Osborne, the British Museum’s chairman of trustees, has called the forthcoming exhibition “the blockbuster show of our generation”, and predicted that it would help attract a record number of visitors to the London institution.
The tapestry will be laid flat for the first time in almost 200 years, due to concerns it could be damaged if hung from a display rail.
Curators have said that the new arrangement will allow audiences to “fully appreciate the scale of this spectacular and one-of-a-kind medieval embroidery”.
Tickets for the 40-minute experience are due to go on sale on July 1 on the museum’s website, with the exhibition running from September 10 until July 2027.
Members will be able to book tickets two weeks before they go on general sale, with prices ranging from £25 to £33 depending on the day and time of the visit - much higher the cost of the museum’s recent samurai exhibition and current Hawaiʻi exhibition.
There will also be dedicated times set aside for school visits, and under-16s will be able to visit for free when accompanied by an adult.
Most likely commissioned by a Norman patron and made by English embroiderers, the tapestry depicts 58 scenes leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, and features 626 characters and 202 horses.
The exhibition will also feature digital elements to bring the story to life, and will be accompanied by treasures from the Norman Conquest and objects from the British Museum’s collection.
It will also include artefacts loaned from other international institutions, including a 1060 charter from the reign of Edward the Confessor, granting lands in Wheathampstead, Hertfordshire, to Westminster Abbey.
Written in Latin and Old English, it is witnessed by several people depicted in the tapestry, including King Edward, Queen Edith, Archbishop Stigand, Earl Harold and Harold’s brother Gyrth, both of whom are shown in the tapestry being killed during the battle.
There will also be an illustrated manuscript from the Bodleian Library, as well as a hoard of coins thought to have been hidden as the Normans swept across England following the invasion.
Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said: “The Bayeux Tapestry is one of the most important surviving works from the medieval world and an extraordinary account of a defining moment in our history.
“Since we first announced this historic loan, we have been committed to ensuring as many people as possible can see it, and we’re excited about welcoming the first visitors through the doors.”
He added: “It is hard to overstate the significance of this extraordinary opportunity of displaying it at the British Museum and we are profoundly grateful to everyone involved.”
Igor Tulchinsky, the chief of WorldQuant, which is sponsoring the exhibition, said: “One of the reasons I decided to sponsor this crucially important exhibition of British history was to allow art to be seen and to change the lives of those who see it.
“The embroidery demonstrates such a mastery of craft. The symmetries and proportions show careful calculation. Its chronological structure reveals something equally sophisticated: a modern sense of causality and sequence. It is a narrative about decisions made under uncertainty, about commitments made before their consequences can be known.
“I hope that the tapestry inspires us all to recognise the value of what endures and to continue to dream about what we might build, what we might preserve, and what we might make possible for those who come after us.”
