WORKS of Islamic art will go on display at the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford for a new exhibition.

More than a hundred spectacular objects from Morocco to China make up Power and Protection – the first major exhibition to explore the supernatural in the art of the Islamic world.

The items in the exhibition date from the 12th to the 20th centuries and feature books, garments and jewellery.

Museum spokeswoman Claire Parris said: "The installation team has been displaying one of the most important works in the exhibition which is coming on loan to us from National Museums Scotland.

"The painting is a battle scene – The Battle between Khusraw and Barham and is from Iran from about 1540.

"In the painting, there is, on the battlefield, an astrologer who is holding an ‘astrolabe’ – an instrument used to observe the sky.

"He is clearly trying to influence the outcome of the battle using supernatural means – the very theme of the exhibition."

Power and Protection: Islamic Art and the Supernatural runs from today until January.

For further information visit ashmolean.org