British Museum curator says Bayeux Tapestry unlikely to be displayed hanging again
A British Museum curator overseeing the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition said that, after its London loan, the tapestry will be shown flat or at an angle, not hung vertically, for the foreseeable future. The remarks were made at the Cheltenham Literary Festival and reported by GB News and the Daily Express.
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The story, neutrally told
Right · 2Lloyd (spelled "Llyod" in both articles) de Beer, a British Museum curator overseeing the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition in London, said the tapestry will not be displayed hanging vertically again in our lifetimes. GB NewsR “"It will not go back to Bayeux and be hanging," he told an audience at the Cheltenham Literary Festival.” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “If you saw the Bayeux hanging, that's the last time in our lifetimes you will ever see it like that again.” Read at Daily Express ↗ Right · 1De Beer said it would "only ever be shown flat or at an angle, depending on the conservation requirements of the object". Daily ExpressR “It will only ever be shown flat or at an angle, depending on the conservation requirements of the object.” Read at Daily Express ↗ Right · 2At its usual home in Normandy the embroidery hangs vertically, but during its temporary stay in London it lies flat in a display case. GB NewsR “At its usual display location in Normandy, the embroidery hangs vertically.” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “has been lying flat in a display case” Read at Daily Express ↗
Right · 2The roughly 230-foot work, dating to the 11th century and telling the story of the lead-up to the Norman Conquest of 1066, is on loan to the British Museum until July under an agreement with the French Government, which set strict rules on light exposure. Daily ExpressR “it has been temporarily loaned to the British Museum in London until July next year, in a landmark agreement with French Government.” Read at Daily Express ↗ GB NewsR “who placed strict rules around light exposure to conserve the artwork” Read at GB News ↗ Right · 2Speaking to The Telegraph, de Beer called laying it flat the "very best thing we can do" for an ancient textile, and said the decision has been taken that it will be displayed at an angle when it returns to France; an angular case is being developed. GB NewsR “So the decision has been taken that when it goes back, it will be displayed at an angle.” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “An angular case is now being developed for its display back in France.” Read at Daily Express ↗ Right · 2De Beer allowed that the arrangement might not be permanent ("Whether that means forever and ever, who knows") but said it would hold for the foreseeable future, and that curators had pushed for flat display for about a decade. GB NewsR “Whether that means forever and ever, who knows.” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “He said experts have been pushing for it to be laid flat for a decade.” Read at Daily Express ↗
Right · 2De Beer said they were initially worried about flat display in Britain but that a mock-up showed visitors can get closer than ever before and that the lighting is "so beautiful". GB NewsR “You can get closer to it than ever before, and the lighting is so beautiful.” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “Despite being worried about the flat display in London” Read at Daily Express ↗ Right · 2The outlets differ on when it was first hung in Normandy: GB News gives 1982, the Daily Express 1983. GB NewsR “The artwork was hung in Normandy for the first time in 1982” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “The artwork was first hung in Normandy in 1983” Read at Daily Express ↗ Right · 2The exhibition has had a difficult start: visitors queued for hours or were turned away, and GB News reports complaints about narrow 40-minute viewing windows and an audio guide urging tourists to "keep moving forward". GB NewsR “visitors whose narrow 40-minute windows to see the historic cut short, while others have been turned away entirely” Read at GB News ↗ Daily ExpressR “ticketed visitors waited for hours in queues, while some were turned away” Read at Daily Express ↗
Right · 1The Express adds that the museum provided seating and longer opening hours, and offered audio tours after Yusuf Ali Osman, a blind man, filed a legal complaint alleging a breach of the Equality Act 2010; more tickets are due to be released next week. Daily ExpressR “the museum provided seating for those waiting in line and extended the exhibition’s opening hours.”“More tickets will be released next week.” Read at Daily Express ↗
Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.
Left0 outlets
No left outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Centre0 outlets
No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.
Right2 outlets
- Framing
- Both outlets lead with the curator's admission that the tapestry will never hang again, then fold in the exhibition's ticketing and access problems, in a tone of revelation and institutional difficulty.
- Emphasis
- The permanence of the change, the conservation rationale, and visitor complaints about queues and short viewing slots; the Express adds the disability-access complaint.
- Leaves out or plays down
- Neither gives a French-side or Bayeux museum response, or independent conservation expert comment; they differ on the 1982/1983 date and on the Express's claim that fragility is the reason.
- Charged language
- “bombshell”“admits huge issue”“admitted”
- For example
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“Bayeux Tapestry bombshell as British Museum curator admits huge issue” — Daily Express
“British Museum curator admits Bayeux Tapestry 'will never be hung up again'” — GB News
What every side reports
- De Beer, a British Museum curator, said at the Cheltenham Literary Festival that the tapestry will only be shown flat or at an angle.
- The tapestry is on loan in London until July under an agreement with the French Government.
- An angular display case is being developed for its return to France.
- More tickets are due next week.
Where accounts differ
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When the tapestry was first hung in Normandy
- Right
- GB News says 1982; the Daily Express says 1983.
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Why it will not hang again
- Right
- The Express says it is 'too fragile'; GB News and de Beer's quoted words cite conservation requirements and what is best for an ancient textile, and de Beer left open whether it is permanent.
British Museum organisation
Through its curator, the museum says flat or angled display is best for conservation and that the London flat display lets visitors get closer; it has adjusted ticketing, seating, hours and audio guides after criticism.
“you can get closer to it than ever before and the lighting is so beautiful” — Daily Express
“the museum provided seating for those waiting in line and extended the exhibition’s opening hours.” — Daily Express
Bayeux Tapestry other
The tapestry is treated as a fragile 11th-century textile now to be displayed flat or at an angle, having hung in Normandy since the early 1980s.
“At its usual display location in Normandy, the embroidery hangs vertically.” — GB News
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Right2 articles
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GB NewsR ·
British Museum curator admits Bayeux Tapestry 'will never be hung up again'
Mixed Reports the curator's remarks fairly fully, then criticises the museum, chaired by George Osborne, over visitor experience.
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Bayeux Tapestry bombshell as British Museum curator admits huge issue
Alarmist Presents the remarks as a 'bombshell' and 'huge issue', attributing them to fragility, and recounts the rocky exhibition start.
- 16 Oct 04:38 First GB NewsR British Museum curator admits Bayeux Tapestry 'will never be hung up again'
- 16 Oct 10:55 +6h 17m Daily ExpressR Bayeux Tapestry bombshell as British Museum curator admits huge issue
Times are when each article was published, or when we first saw it if the outlet gave no time.
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