Palace & Mosque: Islamic Art from the V&A This exhibition was
made possible by the generous donation funding the redevelopment
of the V&A's Islamic Middle East Gallery. It was seen by almost
290,000 people in venues around the world including Washington,
Fort Worth, Tokyo, and Sheffield. Most of the objects from
Palace and Mosque were displayed in the new Jameel Gallery,
which opened to the public on 20 July 2006. Some of the more
than 100 works of Islamic art included in the Palace and Mosque
exhibition are shown below. Click on the thumbnails for larger
images and more information. By the tenth century, the political
unity of the first Islamic empire had dissolved, but the
principles that lay behind it endured. They formed the basis of
the Islamic states that governed roughly the same territory
until the early twentieth century, when secular regimes began to
be established. As a result, Islamic art was able to flourish
for another thousand years. The formation of Islamic art owed a
great deal to Islam as a