EDINBURGH, SCOTLAND.- The Royal Museum presents Beyond the Palace Walls - Islamic Art from the State Hermitage Museum, on view through November 5, 2006. The State Hermitage and the National Museums of Scotland present an exhibition which coincides with the UK Festival of Muslim Cultures. Visitors are given the opportunity to discover the art of Islam held in one of the largest and most widely known collections in the world. Circa 250 works of art from as far a field as Egypt and China, dating from the eighth to the nineteen centuries, are on display in the Royal Museum. Each reveals the timeless beauty of Islamic art, one that transcends time and space, languages and creeds. At the exhibition one can see sumptuous decorative arts including textiles, embroideries, glass, metalwork and jewels, and also explore the captivating legends behind them.

The exhibition opens with the section on "The Five Pillars of Islam," which illustrates the five basic tenets of Islam: profession of the faith, alms, fasting, prayer and pilgrimage. With the advent of Islam in the seventh century, a new religion and culture entered the world stage. Reflected in key Islamic art objects, this section shows that beyond these principles Muslim cultures are very diverse and are influenced by internal and external factors.

The next section of the exhibition is "Early Islamic Art." Here visitors can see outstanding examples of early Islamic art from countries as far apart as Egypt and Iran. Metalwork, glass and ceramics give a flavor of the diversity of material culture throughout the Islamic lands between the eighth and thirteenth centuries.

The section on "Connected Cultures" displays treasures that were the extraordinary results of artistic and creative interaction between Islamic art and both western and eastern arts.

The main section of the exhibition, "The Tulip and The Lotus," concentrates on the golden age of Islamic art between the fourteenth and nineteenth centuries, and its intensely fruitful interaction with east and west. Here an outstandingly beautiful array of decorative art objects, textiles and costumes stand in testimony of a civilization’s unique ability to absorb, assimilate and communicate creatively with western and eastern art, craft and textile traditions. The attention of visitors is drawn to portrait paintings, decorative art, jewelry and both articles of clothing and textiles.

The exhibition concludes with the section on "Diplomacy, Warfare and Trade. The Muslim World and Russia," which displays diplomatic gifts, weapons and, as an example of the extensive trade ties with the Islamic world, especially with Iran and Ottoman Turkey, church vestments made from silk fabrics made in these countries.