Start your free trial:

What adversities drove Rembrandt to even greater creative glories?

Stream Rembrandt on BBC Select

He was the most successful artist working in the richest city on Earth – glittering 17th-century Amsterdam. Like a modern-day rock star, he loved to live extravagantly. But money woes, tragedy and rumor soon left Rembrandt’s reputation in tatters. But these controversies spurred the artist on to create some of his most celebrated works.

Simon Schama delves into Rembrandt’s final, scandal-strewn years in this art history documentary.

Watch Rembrandt and more acclaimed documentaries on BBC Select today. Restrictions apply*.

More documentaries you might like...

Subscribe to BBC Select for hundreds of hours of thought - provoking, award-winning and critically-acclaimed documentaries from the BBC and beyond.
Learn MoreWatch Nature And Us: A History Through Art on BBC Select

Nature And Us: A History Through Art

In the age of climate crisis, what can art teach us about our relationship with nature?

Learn More

The Art of Gothic

Why were Brits in the 19th-century obsessed with art that was horrific, macabre and weird?

Learn MoreStream Gauguin: The Full Story on BBC Select

Gauguin: The Full Story

Why was the life of influential artist Paul Gauguin mired in controversy and conflict?

Learn More

Van Gogh: Painted with Words

Powerful docudrama exploring the work and passions of Vincent Van Gogh

Learn MoreWatch The High Art of the Low Countries on BBC Select

The High Art of the Low Countries

Size doesn’t matter. How one small region spawned the greatest artists of all time.

Learn MoreWatch The Art of Spain on BBC Select

The Art of Spain

Territory, politics and religious conflict: the untold history of Spain’s cultural legacy.

Learn MoreWatch Art of China on BBC Select

Art of China

Historian Andrew Graham-Dixon marvels at a millennia of Chinese art

Learn MoreStream Vincent Van Gogh - The Full Story on BBC Select

Vincent: The Full Story

What do we really know about Vincent van Gogh, arguably the world’s most famous artist?

Learn More

The Story of Women and Art

Restless, resistant and radical. How female artists transformed art from the outside

Learn MoreStream Simon Schama's Power of Art on BBC Select

Simon Schama's Power of Art

Eight masterpieces. Eight big names who changed the world. An electrifying feast of art.

    BBC Select free trial

    BBC Select is available on Amazon Prime Video Channels and the Apple TV app for only $6.99 a month. Start a 30-day free trial and watch a range of acclaimed documentaries from the BBC and beyond. Restrictions apply*.