Westminster Abbey is set to display a new artwork by contemporary artist Helene Delprat next year, which is said to depict what may be the lost final piece of the Bayeux Tapestry. The original 70-metre (229ft) embroidered linen work, illustrating the 1066 Norman invasion and the Battle of Hastings, was brought to the British Museum in London from France in July.
The Bayeux Tapestry is incomplete, with its final section either lost or never completed. Many believe it should have concluded with William the Conqueror’s coronation on Christmas Day 1066 in Westminster Abbey.
The new tapestry, commissioned by the Normandy Regional Council, is being handmade in Aubusson, France. It combines colours and motifs from the original work with heraldic devices and symbols of power and victory. Measuring 25 square metres, it has been made using up to 300 different coloured wool and silk threads.
The artwork is described as a “contemporary response to the events of 10 centuries ago” and is part of Millennium 2027’s European year of the Normans, celebrating a thousand years since William the Conqueror's birth in 1027.
The Dean of Westminster, the Very Reverend Dr David Hoyle, expressed his excitement for the Abbey to be the first venue to display Ms Delprat’s “remarkable tapestry”. He noted that as the coronation church, there could be no more fitting place for the work, which presents an imagined final scene of William’s coronation.
Herve Morin, president of the Normandy Regional Council, called the new artwork the “contemporary counterpart” to the Bayeux Tapestry. He stated that the two works would offer the public “the most comprehensive account of the story of William the Conqueror ever presented.”