In France , the debate continues around the loan of the Bayeux tapestry, which has been promised for 2026 to the British Museum in London, but against whose travel a petition has been launched that has gathered more than 60,000 signatures by journalist Didier Rykner, editor of the specialized newspaper La Tribune de l’Art: those against the loan argue that the tapestry, a precious 11th-century linen work 70 meters long, is too fragile to travel. The signatories of the petition (which includes Finestre sull’Arte director Federico Giannini) are asking President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron, who signed the agreement with the British government for the loan, to abandon the project. As a result of the petition, theElysée Palace has directly intervened in the case: on Friday, Philippe Bélaval, a representative of the President of the Republic, told Agence France Press (AFP) that the tapestry is transportable and that the main hypothesis for moving it to England remains truck transport, although the modalities have not yet been determined at the moment.
Bélaval says that the Elysée Palace has “a whole series of studies and opinions that do not focus on the question of whether it is transportable or not, but try to determine how to handle it.” The representative of the president of the Republic said there would be “an extremely precise study, signed by several people,” dating back to early 2025 that specifies “recommendations to be adopted in terms of handling and transport.” The study, Bélaval asserted, “does not state at all that this tapestry is intrasportable.” However, the official did not specify what the study would be, what the authors are, what the conclusions are.
Following Bélaval’s words Rykner again intervened, according to whom the Elysée representative “is playing with words,” since “any work of art can be transported from point A to point B. But the real question is, under what conditions will it get to point B?” Again, Rykner says that, from Bélaval’s words, it is understood that “there is no study that would allow us to know whether it is transportable or not, but a study that would provide recommendations to be followed for handling and transport would not say that it is not transportable. Since that was not its goal, but transportation had already been decided, we don’t see how the fact that it doesn’t say that proves anything.” However, the fact remains that the study was “described with the utmost vagueness” since, almost a week after Bélaval’s statements, the authors of this study are still unknown. For Rykner, the conclusion remains the same: “Macron thinks he can dispose of the national heritage at will.”
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| France, for the Elysée, the Bayeux tapestry can be transported to England. But the controversy continues |
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