Bayeux Tapestry, 916 mln indemnity for loan to the British Museum
The Treasury will cover the relocation of the work of great historical and symbolic value from Normandy to London
The Arazzo of Bayeux, manufacture symbolising the Norman conquest of England, will be covered by a British Treasury indemnity of around £800 million (over €916 million) during its loan to the British Museum in 2026, demonstrating the extraordinary value placed by the British people on the 70-metre fabric.
According to the Financial Times, the compensation borne by British taxpayers will cover the work from any damage or loss during its relocation from Normandy, where it is on display at the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant, to London for the entire period of what is expected to be the largest exhibition in recent years.
This is more than double the value of the most expensive work of art ever sold at auction, namely the Salvator Mundi, the painting of Jesus attributed by Leonardo da Vinci on commission from King Louis XII of France sold by Christie's in New York in 2017 for $450 million. The Treasury indemnity, to be approved by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, is part of a complex agreement between Britain and France to cover the loan of the tapestry, announced by President Emmanuel Macron during his state visit to London in July.
A recently published six-page 'administrative agreement' between the Ministries of Culture of England and France details how the work will be transported to London and how it is to be protected when the British Museum opens its exhibition in September.
The text stipulates that the British Museum is responsible for the display and safekeeping of the tapestry during its stay in London until July 2027 and that 'at its own expense it will carry out the report on the state of conservation when the tapestry is returned to Bayeux'.
