French President Jacques Chirac and Saudi King Abdullah inaugurated on Sunday a major art exhibit, called “The Wonders of Islamic Arts”, at Riyadh’s National Museum.
The exhibit, organized jointly by the Saudi Supreme Commission for Tourism and France’s Louvre Museum, displays 104 masterpieces from the Louvre museum's Islamic art collection dating from the birth of Islam more than 1,400 years ago up to the early 20th century.
The masterpieces includes ceramics, carpets, textiles, wooden doors and miniatures.
It is the first time the Saudi Kingdom, which is home to Islam’s two holiest sites in Mecca and Medina, has allowed a public exhibition of objects coming from a foreign country.
Meanwhile, President Chirac bestowed on Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal the Commander of the Legion of Honour medal, one of France's highest honours.
Alwaleed, the world's fifth-richest man and a nephew of late King Fahd, has donated 17 million euros (20 million dollars) to build a new wing dedicated to Islamic art at the Louvre museum.