LONDON.- The V&A will double the size of its Gilbert Galleries in March 2026, unveiling seven newly transformed rooms dedicated to one of the world’s most dazzling collections of decorative arts. The free galleries will showcase masterpieces of silver, enamel, gold boxes, stone and glass micromosaics — including a monumental table-top made by Michelangelo Barberi for Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, newly revealed after pioneering laser cleaning by V&A conservators.

The transformation of the original gallery space will create the museum’s first double aspect gallery, overlooking both the John Madejski Garden and the Exhibition Road Quarter. The new gallery spaces have been achieved by incorporating adjacent former offices, re-opening historic brick archways and embracing natural sustainability through the reinstatement of original Victorian solar shading. As the only permanent V&A galleries devoted to a private collection the Gilbert Galleries offer a rare insight into the art of collecting and its role in shaping museums.

The new Gilbert Galleries have been designed by Citizens Design Bureau, the award-winning practice founded by Katy Marks, in their first collaboration with the V&A. The reopening marks the latest milestone in FuturePlan, the V&A’s ambitious programme of development at the South Kensington site which has transformed over 85% of the Museum’s public spaces in the past 15 years. FuturePlan combines world-class design with the restoration of the original building, creating inspiring new settings for the collections and ensuring greater access for all.

The galleries will showcase one of the world’s largest collections of glass micromosaics, now with a dedicated space allowing the majority of the objects in the Gilbert Collection to be seen together for the first time. Going on display for the very first time at the V&A are two large scale views of Rome by the master, Domenico Moglia. The large-scale format plaques, first shown in the UK at the Great Exhibition of 1851, depict views of the ruined Colosseum and the Roman Forum, intricately made with tiny pieces of coloured glass, some of only a few millimetres square. The glass micromosaic technique was developed in the 18th century in the Vatican Mosaic Workshop, which is still active today.

Over 200 gold boxes will take centre stage in a new room, displayed in the round to showcase their exquisite three-dimensional craftsmanship. Highlights include diamond-set snuffboxes commissioned by Frederick ‘the Great’ II of Prussia, including a mother-of-pearl box selected for the collection by Rosalinde Gilbert herself – offering a new lens on her role as collector and her career as a couture designer in London.

Across the galleries, multisensory experiences will bring the collection to life – from touchable samples of rare stones to custom-blended scents – with extensive consultation ensuring inclusive design for neurodiverse visitors and those living with dementia.

The galleries will also spotlight important new research into provenance. A dedicated room explores Nazi and Soviet looting, including the redisplay of two pairs of silver-gilt gates once taken from Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra monastery – the only examples of their kind outside the Orthodox world.

Tristram Hunt, Director of the V&A, said: “The Gilbert Galleries honour the transformative philanthropy of Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert, celebrate some of the most exquisite works of art ever made, and now also explore the fascinating and sometimes complex histories behind them. As part of our FuturePlan transformation, this project combines cutting-edge design, pioneering conservation and the restoration of V&A South Kensington’s historic spaces to inspire creativity in every visitor.”

Alice Minter, Senior Curator of the Rosalinde & Arthur Gilbert Collection, said: “The Gilbert Collection is a feast for the eyes – from dazzling stone and glass mosaics and jewelled gold boxes to masterpieces of silver and enamel. With these new galleries, we can share the artistry of these extraordinary objects in more depth than ever before, while also asking important questions about their histories and journeys. It’s a chance for visitors to get closer to beauty, brilliance and craftsmanship on an intimate scale, but also to discover the personal stories of Rosalinde and Arthur Gilbert as collectors.”

Sir Arthur Gilbert (1913–2001, knighted in 2001) and his first wife Rosalinde (1913–1995) began their careers as fashion entrepreneurs in wartime London, showing at the V&A’s Britain Can Make It! exhibition in 1946 before moving to Los Angeles in 1949, where Arthur became a successful property developer. Their Beverly Hills home inspired a passion for historic objects, and from the 1960s they built an extraordinary collection of silver, gold boxes, enamel portrait miniatures and stone and glass mosaics, many once owned by figures such as Queen Charlotte, Tsarina/ Empress Catherine II of Russia, Frederick ‘the Great’ II of Prussia, Napoleon Bonaparte, Sir Robert and Horace Walpole, the Churchill and the Rothschild families. The collection was transferred to Great Britain in 1996 and has been in the care of the V&A since 2008.