The Bayeux Tapestry, which documents the Norman invasion of England in 1066, will be closed to the public in France from Monday as opposition mounts ahead of its move to London.
The next time it will be possible to see the nearly 1,000-year-old work of art should be when it goes on display at the British Museum in September next year.
However, the French art world is fiercely opposed to the project, with experts fearing the 70m-long (230ft) masterpiece is in far too delicate a state to be transported across the Channel.
French President Emmanuel Macron and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced the loan when they met in London in July.
The last few weeks have seen a big rise in visitor numbers at the Bayeux Museum ahead of its closure from 1 September.
A new display area is being built for the tapestry, which will take at least two years.
The closure – long planned – is what gave Macron the opportunity to perform his act of cultural diplomacy, committing France to loaning the tapestry to the British Museum for a year from next September.
But that promise has triggered an outcry from many in the French art world.
A petition – which describes the loan as a cultural crime – has drawn 60,000 signatures.
What many opponents resent above all is the high-handed way they feel Macron decided to make his gesture to the UK, overriding the advice of specialists who say the vibrations inevitable in a long journey by road could cause irreparable damage.
On 22 August a French official overseeing the loan defended the move, saying the artefact was not too fragile to transport.
Philippe Bélaval said no decision had yet been taken on how to transport the tapestry, but highlighted a study from earlier this year that had made detailed recommendations about handling and transport.
“This study absolutely does not state that this tapestry is untransportable,” Belaval said, quoted by the AFP news agency. He did not reveal the authors of the study or their conclusions.
Cecile Binet, a regional museum adviser for Normandy, said in a YouTube post in February this year that moving the tapestry long distances would be “a risk to its conservation”, adding that it was “too fragile”.
The huge embroidery – which is widely believed to have been created in Kent – will be displayed in London from next autumn until July 2027.
In exchange, treasures including artefacts from the Anglo-Saxon burial mounds at Sutton Hoo and the 12th Century Lewis chess pieces will travel to museums in Normandy.
The Bayeux Tapestry, which dates back to the 11th Century, charts a contested time in Anglo-French relations, as Anglo Saxon dominance was replaced by Norman rule.
Although the final part of the embroidery is missing, it ends with the Anglo Saxons fleeing at the end of the Battle of Hastings in 1066.
Its 58 scenes, 626 characters and 202 horses give a unique account of the medieval period in Normandy and England, revealing not just information about military traditions but also the precious details of daily life.
