The world famous medieval Bayeux Tapestrywhich will be loaned next year by the Bayeux Museum in Normandy to the British Museum in London, is insured against damage or loss for approximately 800 million pounds (917 million euros). British media reported this on Saturday.
The world-famous embroidery measuring 70 meters by 50 centimeters, which was made around 1068, depicts in comic strip form the Battle of Hastings in 1066. William the Conqueror defeated the English King Harold II on the battlefield, who had been crowned nine months earlier, while the throne had actually been promised to William. The loan should make you forget the countries’ bickering over Brexit in recent years.
The British Treasury has issued a business newspaper Financial Times announced that it “has received an estimated valuation of the Bayeux Tapestry which has been provisionally approved.” The ministry declined to formally comment on the likely price, but anonymous officials confirmed the estimate to the FT.
For a work of art it is an astronomical amount. For comparison: Salvator Mundithe painting attributed to Leonardo da Vinci depicting Jesus as the majestic savior of the earth, was sold in 2017 for a record amount of 450 million dollars (382 million euros). The buyer was the culture minister of Saudi Arabia, who most likely acted on behalf of the crown prince.
The Bayeux Museum, where the embroidery was exhibited, closed at the end of August for renovation work. The museum is expected to reopen in the fall of 2027. The owner hopes to be ready by then in connection with the year of birth of William the Conqueror. November 8, 2028 will mark exactly one thousand years since he was born.
The move means that Britons no longer have to cross the Channel to view the work of art. Art experts actually spoke out against a move because of the fragile state of the carpet. Several years ago, researchers found 24,204 stains, 16,445 creases, 9,646 holes in the fabric and embroidery and 30 unstabilized tears. The first meters of the work in particular were weakening. According to the experts, moving the carpet “can only be justified if it is for restoration,” The Bayeux Museum wrote in a statement in 2022.
After the exhibition in London, the artwork will indeed be restored. So the embroidery had to be moved anyway, the Bayeux Museum reasons. “The fact that the work is now going to the British Museum means that the journey will be a little longer,” a spokesperson for the Normandy museum previously said. The Guardian.
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Correction December 27, 2025 (10:30 PM): An earlier version of this article mistakenly stated that the Norman William the Conqueror was the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. But that was his predecessor Harold II.
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