Forget Oasis at Knebworth. Move over, Glastonbury. The hottest show in town right now is a 70-metre medieval artwork.
When news dropped of the Bayeux Tapestry’s arrival at the British Museum, nothing short of a frenzy ensued. The most eager and organised waited in online queues for up to nine hours to score the first slots for September through to December. They sold out in 24 hours, marking the museum’s single biggest day of ticket sales ever.
The next wave of tickets will be released this Wednesday (21 October) for the general public – but expect more queues. As PM Andy Burnham put it, the event is ‘more sought after than Chelsea-Arsenal’.
Some might think that having a look at a tapestry – although, correction, it’s technically an embroidery – doesn’t sound like a very sexy day out. In fact, the less historically minded among us didn’t realise we were interested until the display had already opened. Yet it’s proved so fascinating that the museum has had to ban visitors from taking photos, as it was making them too slow to move through the exhibit.
It has also attracted surprising fans: rock’n’roll legends Mick Jagger and Bob Geldof were among those at the opening reception. Icon recognises icon, it seems.
From rockstars to the runway, the Bayeux Tapestry has even become a fashion muse. At this month's British Museum Ball, guest Rosanna Konarzewski was pictured wearing a dress inspired by the 11th-century embroidered cloth. The custom gown, designed by British brand Hermione de Paula, features a sequin bodice and sweeping train depicting scenes from the tapestry.
So what’s the big deal? The Bayeux Tapestry is ‘one of the most important cultural artefacts from the medieval world’, says Nicholas Cullinan, the director of the British Museum. Depicting the 1066 Battle of Hastings, it tells the tale of how William the Conqueror took the English throne. Think a medieval soap opera, giving us a view into everyday life – as well as knights, sword fights and kings, of course.
‘It’s an entirely different experience looking at a visual account of these seismic events, stitched by people who lived through them,’ says Dr Millie Horton-Insch, project curator of the exhibition. ‘I challenge anyone seeing it for the first time not to get goosebumps.’
The tapestry is on loan from the Bayeux Museum in Normandy, France, and this is the first time it has returned to British soil since it was made, almost 1,000 years ago. Sure, you could ferry over to see the tapestry in July 2027 when it’s back ‘en France’, but there’s no fun in that.
And like all great things: women were behind it. Though there are only three female figures in the central frieze of the tapestry (plus three more in the decorative borders), it’s likely women were the embroiderers of this masterpiece. ‘It’s impossible to know for certain who made the tapestry,’ says Horton-Insch. ‘However, we can be fairly sure that it was made by English women, shortly after the Norman Conquest in 1066.’
Beyond that, even the tapestry is a she – in French at least. ‘She is our old, strong but fragile Lady!’ explains Caroline Eude Devaux, curator of Normandy’s Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs.
Of course, the embroidery shows us getting thrashed by the French, but nevertheless it’s uniting the UK in pride and excitement. Allez!