Spanning two million years of human history, including both globally recognised antiquities and treasures from ancient civilisations, the British Museum’s vast collection is reason enough to visit. But this autumn, the museum is pulling out all the stops with a landmark exhibition and a final chance to catch two displays worth setting aside time for, says Beatrice Squires.
The Bayeux Tapestry
In what has been hailed as the ‘exhibition of the century’, The Bayeux Tapestry (from 10 Sep) sees the legendary 70-metre-long relic return to English soil for the first time since it was stitched some 1,000 years ago. Considered one of the wonders of the medieval world, the tapestry portrays events leading up to the Battle of Hastings and the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, when William, the Duke of Normandy, successfully invaded England and claimed the throne from the Anglo-Saxon king, Harold II.
Thought to have been commissioned in the 1070s by William’s half-brother, Bishop Odo, and embroidered by English hands, the tapestry is packed with drama: clashing armies, mythical beasts, castles under siege, ships crossing the Channel, and quieter flashes of everyday medieval life stitched in between the chaos. And, in a world first, the masterpiece can be viewed laid flat, in one continuous length.
Please Note: Tickets are currently sold out, but are being released in phases – so keep an eye out!
Early Netherlandish Drawings
Meanwhile, in Room 90, don’t miss the chance to see 110 works by artists such as Rogier van der Weyden, Lucas van Leyden and Pieter Bruegel the Elder in Early Netherlandish Drawings (to 20 Sep). The culmination of a five-year research project that threw open the vaults to a trove of more than 1,000 rare drawings made using a range of media, the selection on show – which date from roughly 1430 to 1600 – offers a fascinating insight into the working practices of artists from the Low Countries (present-day Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands).
John Constable: Views of Nature
Finally, John Constable: Views of Nature (to 4 Oct) marks the 250th anniversary of the celebrated English landscape painter’s birth in 1776. Admired for his tender, poetic portrayals of the natural world, his striking use of light and an ability to depict atmospheric effects, Constable transformed the genre. The show follows him from the fields and waterways of his beloved East Anglia all the way to Hampstead Heath in north London, ensuring you come away utterly captivated.
Find out more at britishmuseum.org.
