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The Battle of Hastings 1066 English foot soldiers in defence, pictured in the Bayeux Tapestry c1070. |
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Sutton Hoo treasure: the golden helmet |
This week, during Macron’s State Visit to Britain, he and
Keir Starmer signed a landmark loan agreement, in which the Bayeux Tapestry
will travel to the British Museum next year for public display, in temporary exchange for
the Anglo-Saxon treasures of the Sutton Hoo burial ship plus the Lewis Chess
men. This was a great surprise given that prolonged loan exchange negotiations
in 2018, again initiated by Macron, ended in failure when the historic
embroidered cloth was deemed by Frederic Boura, a Normandy cultural official,
to be “
too tired, worn and fragile to be moved”, with transportation
judged to be quite out of the question.
Loic Jamin, deputy mayor of Bayeux, said recently, “In
2018 we just did not know enough about protecting the physical condition of the work,
which is why the loan had to wait, even though we have always believed that it
would be possible.” The Bayeux Museum said that it had carried out tests,
including a dress rehearsal with a model, which persuaded its experts that the
tapestry could be sent to the U.K. without excessive damage. A spokesman
commented that all the expertise developed during the research over the intervening
eight years by the Museum, and shared with the French Ministry of Culture, had made
a major contribution to making the loan a reality.
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One is spoiled for choice among the five examples of male genitalia. Further equine information below. |
The Tapestry, [not a woven tapestry at all, but a hand-embroidered narrative wall hanging] is considered French though a most important part of our cultural heritage
too over centuries, and known to practically
every schoolchild, is 70 metres long (230 feet) and almost 50 centimetres in
depth, (just under 20 inches) a not insignificant size for it needs space to incorporate representations of a plethora of historical figures and important
events. It pictures William, Duke of Normandy, and his army trouncing Harold the
Second, the Anglo-Saxon King, and his forces at the Battle of Hastings in 58
scenes illustrated in four different embroidery stitches and thread, in 10
naturally dyed colours. The numbers are thrillingly detailed! There are 623
figures, 994 animals, 37 buildings, and 41 ships and other vessels, plus,
astonishingly to the slightly more delicate modern taste, 94 representations of human and horse male genitalia! These are generally of robust size, perhaps to underline the machismo of the Battle of Hastings and the feud between the two men.
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Harold, taken by William to Bayeux, swears fealty on holy relics, to his overlord. He is pictured between two altars, while William observes from his throne. UBI HAROLD SACRAMENTUM FECIT WILLELMO DUCI |
The entire panel is now
displayed, hanging on rails, behind glass in a climate-controlled atmosphere. To
send it off on its journey to Britain will mean slightly extending the rails before placing the entire tapestry in a special container designed to
fold, with no stress on the precious contents, as it journeys from Bayeux to the British Museum.
The Bayeux Museum in Northern France is set to close for
around two years at the end of August, hence the availability of the tapestry;
the museum will close completely to enable a £38million renovation during which time the Tapestry must be moved anyway to a safe place. The long-mooted long-term
loan to the UK means moving it a little further than first envisaged and seems
the logical destination, given aborted earlier attempts to loan it to the U.K. Indeed,
half of the tapestry narrative is showing Britain’s share in the Battle of
Hastings and there is the recurrent opinion, based on the type of stitches used, that the women who created the
embroidery, came from the Canterbury area.
A spokesman for the Museum said, “Bayeux has always had close links with
the UK and we’re very happy that the tapestry we have taken care of for almost 10000 years is returning for a few months to where it was created at the end of
the eleventh century. It’s a momentous occasion on both sides of the Channel
but it’s perfectly reasonable for us to loan the tapestry to the British Museum
because of our shared heritage and history. It wouldn’t happen with any other
country.” It goes without saying [almost!] that this iconic work of
art has, in fact, never been to England in the almost 1000 years since it was
created, [in England]
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The detail on the tapestry is an archive in itself. Here are the Norman boats, bearing men and horses, crossing the Channel. |
The magnificent tapestry was subjected to prolonged expert scrutiny
in 2020, when conservators found it had almost 24,200 stains and 10,000 tiny
holes. After the tapestry’s display in Britain next year, the Bayeux Museum intends to
carry out a complete renovation at an estimated cost of £1.7m and it has also
designed a structure like a folded screen that can be closed and packed while
the tilted panels supporting the tapestry are designed to relieve any stress on
the frail fabric. The Bayeux Tapestry will then be ready for exhibition when the Bayeux Museum re-opens in 2027 where the famous archive will continue to display both its intrinsic artistic merit and its major historical importance.
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Bishop Odo, shown on the left of William Norman sources depict him as a man of peace and justice. Anglo-Saxon records paint him as rapacious and mutinous. |
Intriguingly, the tapestry’s provenance is unknown. It is
believed to have been commissioned by Bishop Odo of Bayeux, William the Conqueror’s
half-brother, in the 1070s to decorate the newly built Notre Dame de Bayeux
Cathedral, consecrated on 14 July 1077.
The instigator would have to have been a powerful
figure in the Church at the time to explain the subject, sheer size and cost of the enterprise.
The tapestry was probably an extravagant gift to William from Odo, to commemorate his
success at the Battle of Hastings as its entire narrative is told from the
victorious Norman point of view.
Research
has recently accepted that the whole creation was probably undertaken
by the nuns of Barking Abbey which rather challenges the Canterbury myth as it
is some 60 miles distant! However there seems no doubt about the fact that the
Bayeux Tapestry was made in Britain and will temporarily return next year.
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88 of the penises shown on the Tapestry belong to horses. The largest belongs to William's horse; the second in size, to Harold and the third, to Odo. A device to underline both the status of the owners and the inherent machismo perhaps.
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