Bayeux Tapestry

The tapestry is displayed at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in Normandy, France, where it has been since 1983. It is shown in a dim, climate-controlled gallery behind protective glass. Its permanent home was secured after years of conservation and display concerns.

Technically it is an embroidery, not a tapestry, because the design is stitched onto a plain linen ground using wool threads in shades of red, blue, green, and yellow. It measures about 70 meters long and 50 cm tall. Its Latin captions label the scenes of the Norman Conquest.

Tradition attributes it to Bishop Odo of Bayeux, the half-brother of William the Conqueror, and it was likely produced in England in Canterbury workshops in the 1070s. Odo's cathedral at Bayeux became its home. The needlework depicts events from around 1064 to 1066.

France has never lent the tapestry to Britain, though the idea has been proposed repeatedly by French presidents including Macron in 2018. Conservation studies concluded it was too fragile to travel safely. The UK has instead exhibited a 19th-century replica at Reading Museum since 1895.