The Bayeux Tapestry loses Antoine Verney, one of its most faithful protectors, who died suddenly last week at the age of 62. Trained at the École du Louvre and the École nationale du patrimoine, Antoine Verney holds a master’s degree in art history and a DEA in ethno-archaeology (Panthéon-Sorbonne University). These diplomas oriented him very early on towards medieval heritage and museology. In 1991 he became director of the Baron-Gérard Museum of Art and History, the art and history museum of the city of Bayeux. Under his direction, the Baron-Gérard Museum came back to life. He notably orchestrated its redeployment in the former episcopal palace in 2013, twelve years after its closure for security reasons.
In 2009, Antoine Verney became chief curator of the municipal museums of Bayeux. In this role, he is responsible for the management of a set of three museum institutions (brought together under the name Bayeux Museum): the Baron-Gérard Museum, the Memorial Museum of the Battle of Normandy (dedicated to the Landing of 1944) and the Bayeux Tapestry Museum. Antoine Verney supervises the conservation, programming and promotion of these collections, in particular the Bayeux Tapestry, a jewel of Bayeux heritage.
Since the end of the 2010s, he has been leading an ambitious museographic renewal project for the Bayeux Tapestry. He is particularly involved in the study and restoration of the Tapestry. The aim was to stabilize the work, classified as “Memory of the World” by UNESCO, and to design a new exhibition space. This future museum, designed by the British architectural firm RSHP and scheduled for fall 2027, will present the tapestry on a 70-meter inclined support, in order to minimize constraints on the ancient textile. Despite his reluctance, he was involved in the technical studies which will allow it to be transported in 2026 for an exhibition at the British Museum.
Antoine Verney has signed or co-signed numerous publications on Tapestry and medieval heritage. Among his recent contributions, we find an article (October 2022) in the journal Dyes and Pigments, where he reveals that 19th century restorations used the first synthetic dyes on Bayeux embroidery. This work, carried out in collaboration with chemists and conservatives, makes it possible to precisely date the major restoration of the textile around 1866–1872. In January 2025, he published with other researchers a report in the Journal of Cultural Heritage describing a 3D modeling of the Tapestry using photogrammetry and virtual reality. Antoine Verney was elevated, the same year, to the rank of knight of the Order of Arts and Letters.
The mayor of Bayeux, Patrick Gomont, describes Antoine Verney as “an admirable man, who gave himself enormously for Bayeux, who started as a seasonal worker more than 30 years ago now”. The municipality of Bayeux observed a minute of silence in the municipal council in his honor.
