Bayeux tapestry: Paris and London agree on a "possible loan"

The Minister of Culture Françoise Nyssen and her British counterpart Matthew Hanbad signed Thursday in Paris an "administrative arrangement" in the prospect of a "possible loan" of the Bayeux Tapestry

The loan project in the United Kingdom of the Tapestry – medieval gem that tells the conquest of England by William the Conqueror – was announced at the beginning of the year by the head of state Emmanuel Macron on the occasion of the 35th Franco-British summit of Sandhurst

"Today, signing this agreement will allow to begin to do all the work of serious study because it can obviously be moved only under conditions of safety and conservation, "said Françoise Nyssen to the press, after the signing of this agreement.

This will also allow" to develop " she added. "For Bayeux, it is also an extraordinary lighting on the future museum because, if all conditions are met, it will go to England by 2023, we will say, for a return to the moment of the opening of the museum ".

The tapestry must be loaned during important restoration works of the museum which shelters it in Bayeux (Calvados).

" We hope to make the exchange in a few years. We discuss possible dates, so we hope to announce dates in a short time, "said Matthew Hanbad.

In January, British Prime Minister Theresa May indicated that the Tapestry could be exhibited in Britain by 2022, while the Elysee had said it could not be "before 2020".

The town hall of Bayeux for its part evoked the date of 2023.

Installed under shielded window at the Museum of Bayeux, the Tapestry, which dates from the end of the eleventh century, tells one of the few successful attempts to invasion of England.

The piece is extremely fragile and the agreement signed by Mrs Nyssen and her British counterpart specifies that the project includes a scientific and technical cooperation "dedicated to the preservation" of the tapestry, clbadified National Treasure.

The Tapestry of Bayeux attracts every year some 400,000 visitors to Calvados.

Twice, in 1953 for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and in 1966 for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings narrated by the Tapestry, it was envisaged to ship the masterpiece to England, but neither of these projects had been successful

Only twice, the Tapestry left Bayeux for Paris. First at the request of Napoleon, then during the Second World War under the Nazi order.