Present, conserve, explain

‘Thank you. It’s magnificent,’ said Philip Pullman as he opened the new extension at the Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford at the end of October.

The new structure replaces a series of worn-out sheds at the back. These rooms were grim and visited by few, except students and school parties doing Egypt. Although there are other routes, to get to the art galleries the visitor has now to go through the new museum, across glass bridges, up the falling-leaf staircase, retracing the path taken by civilisations for 8,000 years, to reach Uccello, Titian and Turner. And Titian is well represented, by two paintings acquired by Dr Christopher Brown, the Ashmolean’s director: two Titians and the completion of a £61 million development in under a decade must be a world record, certainly a personal best.

‘The importance of the new development lies in what it allows us as a museum to do: present, conserve, explain,’ said Brown. Preparation is impeccable, and explanation is clear. While it can show only the tip of the iceberg, the Conservation Gallery describes the work of conservators, from Agatha Christie’s amateur assessment of the Nimrud ivories in the 1920s to modern notepaper grazed and eaten by silverfish in the 1980s.

In the upper galleries there is a graphic display telling the story of the development from 2001, ending with the date: ‘November 2009 — Open (Ready or Not).’ Well, all was not quite ready for the opening, as some display cases were yet to be filled. A museum opening cannot be hurried and, while by the time this is published all the cases should be complete, it was a brave decision not to flinch the opening date because it showed those visitors early enough to see the work in progress that a living museum is constantly in flux, and an occasional dark display case is all part of the process.