LONDON.- The Ashmolean’s Young Rembrandt exhibition will be the subject of a new 30-minute BBC Arts film on BBC Four, written and narrated by Professor Sir Simon Schama CBE. The critically acclaimed exhibition, more than ten years in the making, was open to the public for less than three weeks before the coronavirus shut-down. It will now be available to see at home as part of BBC Arts’ Culture in Quarantine initiative which is maintaining public access to arts and culture during the lockdown. Young Rembrandt will be broadcast in the Museums in Quarantine series at 19:30 on Tuesday 28 April and available on demand on BBC iPlayer.

Made by Swan Films Ltd, the programme was filmed in just one day with minimal crew and equipment to ensure social distancing. The script was written and recorded remotely in New York by world renowned historian and Rembrandt expert, Simon Schama. He says: ‘I was lucky to see Young Rembrandt at the Ashmolean just before it was forced to close and I’m delighted to have the chance to bring the exhibition to people’s homes during lockdown. Rembrandt is loved, generation after generation, for his capacity to depict the whole of humanity with the keenest and kindest of eyes. We look to him for empathy, understanding and pure joy at his astonishing abilities. Right now we could all do with a bit of Rembrandt.’

Dr Xa Sturgis, Director the Ashmolean, says: ‘We are hugely grateful to BBC Arts, Swan Films and Professor Schama for making Young Rembrandt accessible to people when they can’t visit the Ashmolean. It was immensely sad that we had to close our doors so soon after the exhibition started, all the more so when people are in need of the things art and museums can offer.’

An Van Camp, Curator of the exhibition, says: ‘I am so pleased that while the galleries are dark and people are unable to visit, it will be possible to see Young Rembrandt online and in this film. The exhibition is the culmination of more than a decade of work, begun by Professor Christopher Brown CBE, Director Emeritus of the Ashmolean. It is the largest exhibition ever devoted to Rembrandt’s early career which includes not only the Ashmolean’s own works but many spectacular international loans. It’s a story of hard work, perseverance and, ultimately, triumph – which should bring hope and entertainment just when we need it.’

Neil Crombie, Creative Director of Swan Films, says: ‘At times like this we value great art like Rembrandt’s more than ever, so it’s been a great privilege to work with the Ashmolean, with BBC Arts and with Simon Schama, under very challenging circumstances, to help give audiences at least a flavour of this moving and beautiful exhibition.’

Jonty Claypole, Director of BBC Arts, says: ‘The role of the BBC at this time is to keep public access to art and culture as great as ever, and to do so in a way that supports artists and arts organisations. This is more essential than ever because of the proven positive impact that the arts and creativity have on our mental health. I am delighted to give our audiences access to the Young Rembrandt exhibition at the Ashmolean in Oxford, and thank the museum, the team at Swan Films and Simon Schama for making it possible.’