🌅 The Cost of Insuring History

SOURCE

Financial Times

WHAT TO KNOW

• The British government is expected to insure the historic Bayeux Tapestry for $1.1 billion when it returns to England later this year for the first time in nearly a millennium. The price tag, which hasn’t been finalized, will cover the tapestry against damage or loss during its trip from the Bayeux Tapestry Museum in Normandy, France, where it’s hung since 1077, to the British Museum in London, where it will be on display from September 2026 to July 2027 while the tapestry’s home museum is closed for renovations.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The 230-foot-long Bayeux Tapestry—widely believed to have been created in England then brought to France—depicts the Battle of Hastings in 1066, a decisive event in the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy. On the morning of October 14, 1066, William and his soldiers attacked an English army under the command of Harold Godwinson, the last Anglo-Saxon king of England. After a day of fierce battle, Harold’s troops were decimated and the king fell to an arrow through the face. William’s road to London was clear and, on December 25, 1066, he was crowned King of England in Westminster Abbey. As King, William successfully thwarted various English revolts in what’s now known as the Norman Conquest, earning his famed title, “the Conqueror.”

CONNECT THE DOTS

• The $1.1 billion price tag to insure the historic tapestry is more than twice the price of the most expensive artwork ever sold: Leonardo da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi, which went for $450 million in 2017. However, critics of the loan agreement between the French and British governments say the insurance amount is “unsuitable,” as the tapestry is incredibly fragile and conservators fear any transportation of the medieval masterpiece will cause damage. The move has also sparked a debate among art historians about the valuation of irreplaceable works of art with unique historical value.