Contemporary artist Hélène Delprat has won a competition organised by Région Normandie to create the missing piece of the Bayeux Tapestry as part of celebrations to mark the millennium of William the Conqueror's birth.
The Bayeux Tapestry, a masterpiece of 11th-century Romanesque art, is nearly 70m long and depicts events leading up to the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, led by William, Duke of Normandy challenging Harold II, King of England.
It is believed to have been commissioned by Bishop Odo, William’s half-brother, to embellish his newly built cathedral in Bayeux (Normandy) in 1077, and is now exhibited at the Musée de la Tapisserie de Bayeux in the town.
The tapestry begins in 1064, when Edward the Confessor, King of England, instructs his brother-in-law Harold Godwinson to travel to Normandy, and culminates in the Battle of Hastings, where Harold was killed and his forces defeated.
The missing section, according to historians, is that of William's coronation at Westminster Abbey on December 25, 1066, when he became King of England and was dubbed ‘the Conqueror’.
The competition to find an artist was held in partnership with Mobilier National, the French statutory body which administers the historic Gobelins and Beauvais tapestry factories and oversees the creation and conservation of furniture and objects for French public buildings. The new panel will be woven at the Gobelins factory in Paris.
“Our idea is to take advantage of the millennium anniversary of the birth of William the Conqueror in 2027 to build a major popular event on a European scale,” said Hervé Morin, president of Normandy regional council.
Ms Delprat was chosen from five shortlisted artists, each of whom presented their project in June 2024. Mr Morin praised her “contemporary vision” of the scene.
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The scene will not be a physical continuation of the Bayeux Tapestry and is not linked to the Bayeux Tapestry museum. It will be displayed at the Château Guillaume-le-Conquérant in Falaise (Calvados).
There are also plans to exhibit the new scene at Westminster Abbey.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in 2018 that the tapestry could be lent to the UK during renovations at the Bayeux museum, but some experts oppose this on account of the relic’s fragility.
On being selected, Ms Delprat said her design is not a “reconstruction” or “illustration” of the coronation, but rather an “evocation”.
Ms Delprat added: “[It] will take into account the poetry of the embroidery, but also its violence.
“[The] Bayeux embroidery itself is never literal: it does not describe, it does not illustrate. It constantly invents. It speaks. It declaims.”
Known to be one to watch in the contemporary art movement, Delprat’s work includes paintings, theatrical installations, sculptures and film.
Supporters of the 67-year-old artist include French businessman François Pinault along with Christophe Gaillard and Hauser & Wirth galleries.
Upcoming exhibitions include the 17th Lyon Biennial (open now until January 5, 2025), a Saint-Paul de Vence (Alpes-Maritimes) solo exhibition in spring 2025, and at the Centre Pompidou-Metz in 2027.
A new exhibition space for the Bayeux Tapestry is currently being developed at its permanent location in the town’s former seminary. Expected to be finished in 2027, it will enhance access to the tapestry and support ongoing conservation efforts.