The Bayeux Tapestry is an exhibition to remember
Displaying the story of the Norman Conquest was always going to be a Herculean task, but it's one that the British Museum has executed well.
Last week, Athena was fortunate to attend one of the private views of the Bayeux Tapestry at the British Museum. She emerged exhilarated by the experience.
As she has observed before, the display of the celebrated embroidery has caught the public imagination and this occasion reflected that fact. For one thing, it was exceptionally well attended. No less remarkable was the fact that, on arrival, lots of the guests walked straight past the drinks and refreshments, determined to see the object itself. Athena was one of them.
It took her almost exactly 40 minutes to walk the full length of the Tapestry. Her expectation had been that it would be difficult to see when laid out flat, but in fact the arrangement works well. The object itself is displayed in a single, long case that allows the visitor a really close view. Added to which, although the lighting levels are low, it is not difficult to examine and — crucially — onlookers don’t cast shadows across it. Despite continuous polite requests from the museum staff to keep moving along, the visit didn’t feel hurried and there was time to examine details.
Projected onto the wall behind the case as a backdrop to the Tapestry is a series of interpretative animations. Athena noticed them as she waited her turn to see the Tapestry, but, at the end, she realised that she had paid absolutely no attention to them at all and can’t speak for their quality or interest. The same goes for the short display on the architectural legacy of the Normans that leads from the exhibition proper to the shop.
'Athena doesn’t envy the staff on the ground the challenge of managing the crowds in the months to come'
Setting aside the undoubted pleasure of seeing the Tapestry and the manner of its presentation, the experience did raise one concern about what lies ahead. Athena was warned to arrive early for the event and, consequently, the queue for the exhibition was relatively short when she joined it. It nevertheless took a full hour and 20 minutes of queuing to get to the start of the tapestry.
There was the offer to join a ‘fast lane’, but very few people took it and Athena suspects that the system will be abused as a means of jumping the queue. In short, there are clearly going to be real practical difficulties in getting large numbers of people through the exhibition. After all, the Tapestry presents a narrative that can only be read in one order — from the beginning to the end. Athena doesn’t envy the staff on the ground the challenge of managing the crowds in the months to come.
Finally, leaving the exhibition behind and passing through some of the British Museum’s familiar galleries, Athena was struck by how tired they looked. It was a sobering reminder of the massive challenges of repair and renovation that still face this great institution. In relation to those tasks, this memorable and magnificent display of the Bayeux Tapestry — a triumph for all involved — is a mere side show.
This feature originally appeared in the September 16, 2026, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe.
