"A true heritage crime": an online petition against the loan of the Bayeux Tapestry to the British Museum

"We solemnly request the President of the Republic to abandon this project. This loan would be a true heritage crime," reads the end of this petition created on the website change.org by Didier Rykner, editorial director of the website "La Tribune de l'Art."

Contacted by AFP, Didier Rykner said the tapestry was "far too fragile to be transported without great risk."

"Tapestry specialists, restorers who work on it, and conservators say there is a risk of tears and material falling out due to handling and vibrations during transport," he recalled.

"It is unacceptable to take the risk that this absolutely unique work will be damaged," Didier Rykner fumed.

The tapestry is a 70-metre-long 11th-century "embroidered tale" that tells the story of the conquest of England in 1066 by William, Duke of Normandy, who later became "William the Conqueror".

Emmanuel Macron announced on July 8 the loan of the work to the British Museum in London from September 2026 to June 2027 in exchange for medieval pieces from the Sutton Hoo archaeological treasure.

In a video posted on YouTube by the Calvados prefecture in February 2025, Cécile Binet, museum advisor at the DRAC of Normandy, stated that the tapestry is "too fragile to be moved over a great distance" and that "any further handling" was "a risk to its conservation".

A few weeks after these statements, the decision was made to "send him to London. It makes no sense, it's purely political and diplomatic," said Didier Rykner.

A feasibility study for the transport of the Bayeux Tapestry to London was carried out by restorers in March 2022, we learned from concordant sources.

"They refuse to share this study with me, it remains confidential," Mr. Rykner said angrily. "The Ministry of Culture says that there have been studies that have shown that the work is transportable. Show them to us, I would like to see them!"

Contacted by AFP, neither the DRAC of Normandy, nor the Ministry of Culture, nor the restorers had responded by Wednesday afternoon.