Bayeaux Tapestry to go on display soon in the UK and people remembering the 1966 one? (UK)

[00:00:01]Good morning and welcome to the British Museum. It's a huge day as tickets go on sale today where you can come and see the Bayeux Tapestry [music] when it opens here in September.

[00:00:14]>> Now it's described as one of the most important cultural artifacts in the world, the Bayeux Tapestry, and soon it'll be back here in the UK for the first time in almost a thousand years.

[00:00:24]>> Wow, it's almost the last time we won the World Cup, isn't it?

[00:00:27]>> It's when I took my driving test.

[00:00:29]>> The 70-m embroidery is being carefully, really carefully transported from Normandy to London, and it's going on display at the British Museum. John Maguire has more.

[00:00:41]>> In an increasingly digital and artificial age, the Bayeux Tapestry remains a physical record of our history.

[00:00:49]Its exact provenance remains disputed, but most scholars believe it was hand-stitched in England in the decade that followed the Norman invasion and the tapestry's subject matter, the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

[00:01:04]A detailed and much-discussed representation of the brutality of medieval war.

[00:01:16]70 m long and extremely fragile, moving the tapestry is a test of the very latest techniques in art preservation.

[00:01:25]Climate control and limiting vibration are essential.

[00:01:30]>> There has been trepidation and weariness from some quarters about it being moved.

[00:01:36]All textiles, all embroideries are fragile pieces of material culture, but I do believe that if they felt that wasn't good for the tapestry, that the tapestry would be under undue stress and conservation-wise, that it was a bad thing, that they wouldn't have moved it.

[00:01:57]>> In a year-long art exchange, the tapestries leaving its home in a museum in Normandy, which is undergoing renovations. In turn, France will receive some of Britain's treasures.

[00:02:08]>> We've worked very hard during the past few years in order to make this exchange possible.

[00:02:14]>> The agreement has been heralded as a prime example of the Entente Cordiale in stark contrast to the way Britain and France behave towards each other almost 1,000 years ago.

[00:02:29]>> We can speak to John now cuz he's at the British Museum. And John, tickets go on sale a bit later this morning. Morning.

[00:02:38]>> They do. Morning, John. 10:00 is when tickets go on sale online. We're in the Great Court of the British Museum, an extraordinary space. The tapestry itself will be housed in an exhibition hall just behind where we're standing. And for the first time, it will be one continuous run. So, it'll be 70 m long.

[00:02:57]Previously, it's gone around corners, etc. So, visitors will be able to come once you buy your ticket and see the tapestry from beginning to end, all of the panels 70 m long. It promises to be an extraordinary sight. Tom License is with us, professor of medieval history from the University of East Anglia. Good morning to you.

[00:03:17]>> Morning, John.

[00:03:18]>> Why is the tapestry so revered?

[00:03:22]>> Why is Why is it so exciting? What Why do we still care about it?

[00:03:26]>> Well, I think 1066 is the most famous year in British history. It's something like our origin myth, the idea of England, the last time England was conquered. And the tapestry is iconic.

[00:03:36]There's nothing else like it. It's a 70-m long cartoon, if you like, showing the events and the main characters. And of course, that that fateful battle at the end of it.

[00:03:43]>> And one of the most famous scenes, of course, is the arrow in Harold's eye.

[00:03:47]But that might not be as accurate as we think it is. Tell us that There's a There's a There's a bit of mystery about this.

[00:03:53]>> Yes, absolutely. I mean, that scene has been much reproduced in greetings cards and political cartoons. I think if you name one, ask people to name one famous scene from British history, it's that figure with the arrow in the eye. But, that's not the figure that was drawn when antiquaries went to make drawings of the tapestry in the 18th century.

[00:04:09]They drew a figure holding a spear behind his head ready to strike the attacking Normans. And in the 19th century, there was some repair work done. So, there's a question mark around whether that really is Harold or whether that was originally one of his housecarls holding a spear to strike down the enemy.

[00:04:24]>> So, the tapestry has changed through the ages.

[00:04:27]>> Yes, it's not a fixed sort of record.

[00:04:29]It's been fiddled around with and picked apart by tourists. They've cut off bits of it as fragments and souvenirs.

[00:04:34]They've removed threads. And then in the 19th century, it's been restored in in various places. Bits have been added, bits have been taken away. So, it's a living breathing artifact of our past.

[00:04:45]>> And looking at some of the images, it really does show that sort of brutality, doesn't it? The no no holds barred, as it were.

[00:04:51]>> Very much, yes. I mean, there are severed heads and hewn limbs lying down in the lower border. And at moments, we get a glimpse of the horrors of war. So, there's a scene, for example, when the Normans arrive in a village and they start burning down the houses. And there's a woman fleeing holding a child by the hand. And you just get a glimpse of of the trauma that's unfolding in these scenes.

[00:05:11]>> And it's it's a long time removed.

[00:05:13]You're talking about almost a thousand years. But, do you believe that that seeing it close up, as it were, helps sort of bridge that link?

[00:05:21]>> I really do, because I think if you see it close up, you see things, you see details that you wouldn't have seen before. And of course, we used to seeing excerpts from it, just little images cut apart in fragments. When you see the whole thing, you get a chance to read it and see it as a story and go backwards and up and down and look at it in different ways. So, I think there's so much to be gained by coming and seeing it in person.

[00:05:41]>> You'll be ticket number 0001, I imagine.

[00:05:44]>> Ho- hopefully. I've got a free ticket, yes.

[00:05:46]>> [laughter] >> Fingers crossed.

[00:05:47]>> All right, Professor Tom Licence, thank you very much indeed. Promises to be fascinating. As we say, tickets going on sale later on this morning. The exhibition itself opens in September.

[00:05:58]It'll be your chance, if you've never been on a school trip or whatever to Normandy, it'll be your chance to get to see it as close as possible for the first time yourselves. Back to you, too.

[00:06:08]>> John, thank you so much. Absolutely fascinating. And then gosh, can you imagine having to pack it up and get in and get it there all safely and get the 70 m out. Amazing.

[00:06:18]>> Try not to lose a bit.

[00:06:19]>> And try not to get it put in the wrong order.

[00:06:22]>> Yeah, but there's going to be a huge demand for that, isn't there? Come 10:00. Right.

[00:06:25]We've also had this really interesting email just now from Bill in Glenrothes in Scotland talking about the Bayeux Tapestry, which we've been saying is coming back to the UK for the first time in a thousand years.

[00:06:37]Um Bill says he saw the tapestry in Hastings in 1966 when it was displayed for the 900th anniversary.

[00:06:45]>> 1966?

[00:06:46]>> But I can find no record of this. So, I don't know what Bill has seen, but according to >> [laughter] >> various search engines I've been looking at, Bill, you didn't see the Bayeux Tapestry. Maybe it was just a bit of embroidery from your family, I don't know.

[00:06:59]>> John will investigate and let us know, no doubt.

[00:07:02]>> Yeah, there has been some confusion we were saying earlier about whether the Bayeux Tapestry has been back to the UK over the last few decades. Several of you, including Cherry, have got in touch this morning saying, "I remember seeing it in Hastings in 1966."

[00:07:17]So, for the 900th anniversary of the Battle of Hastings.

[00:07:21]And lots of others of you say the same, somewhere near Hastings Pier, apparently. Well, apparently we can explain. Alex has got in touch and says that in 1966 it was a replica called the Hastings Embroidery that was made and went on display, made by the Royal School of Needlework. It was 27 panels depicting the whole thing. So, you can see why you might think you'd seen it, but lots of people went on school trips and really believed it was the genuine article.

[00:07:46]>> Yeah, but we are reassured, aren't we, that it's the first time it's been in Britain for around about 900 years, even though it was made in Kent.

[00:07:52]>> Yeah.

[00:07:52]>> Yeah.