Artistic Exchanges between the Nasrid and Mamluk Sultanates in the Medieval Mediterranean
Supervisors: Dr Tom Nickson and Dr Meredyth Winter
Advisor: Dr Robert Brennan
The thesis examines artistic connections between the Nasrid Emirate of Granada and the Mamluk Sultanate within the wider networks that linked the medieval Mediterranean. Through close analysis of objects—their form, technique, inscriptions and provenance—alongside written and historical evidence, the research explores how objects moved through diplomatic, commercial, military and artistic channels, and how they acquired new meanings in different contexts.
Research interests
- Late Medieval and Pre-Modern Islamic art and material culture
- Object mobility, provenance and reception
- Diplomatic, commercial and artistic exchange in the medieval Mediterranean
Education
- 2025–present: PhD, The Courtauld Institute of Art
- 2024: MA History of Art, The Courtauld Institute of Art. Dissertation: “The Medieval Ivory Pyxis from the Cathedral of the Saviour of Zaragoza: Attribution, History and Meaning”
- 2016: Arabic Language Intensive Program, The American University in Cairo
- 2008–2014: Postgraduate research, Research Institute of Theory and History of Arts, Russian Academy of Arts. Thesis: “Islamic Architecture in Rasulid Yemen: Problems of Style”
- 2003–2008: Specialist Degree, Faculty of History, Lomonosov Moscow State University. Specialisation in medieval Islamic architecture
Selected writing
Peer-reviewed publication
- “Ottoman Imperial Style in Yemen Architectural Heritage: Problems of Identification,” in Proceedings of the 14th International Congress of Turkish Art (Paris, 2013).
Encyclopaedia entries
- Entries on Iraq, Yemen, Qatar, Kuwait, Lebanon and Libya in the New Russian Encyclopaedia, and on Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Pakistan and Sana’a in the Great Russian Encyclopaedia.
Selected journalism and cultural heritage writing
- “TEFAF Fair Reports Successful Sales,” Kommersant, 19 March 2014.
- Contributor to Looters without Borders, a Kommersant special project on the destruction and illicit trade of cultural heritage (2015).
- Articles for The Art Newspaper Russia on art fairs, icons and conservation (2014–2016), including “Art Basel without Borders” and “Save al-Muallaqa.”
Work experience
- 2013–2014: Lecturer in the History and Theory of Islamic Art, St Philaret Orthodox Christian Institute, Moscow
- 2014–2015: Lecturer in the History of Islamic Art, Stroganov Moscow State University of Arts and Industry