Beatrice Leal is an honorary lecturer in the Department of Art History and World Art Studies at the University of East Anglia, a trustee of the Hungate Medieval Art centre in Norwich (UK), and an associate of the Manar al-Athar image archive at the University of Oxford. Most of her research is on the material culture of the late antique, early medieval, and early Islamic Mediterranean and surrounding regions. She has a particular interest in non-figural imagery, and in the cultural associations and uses of materials.
One feature of pre-Islamic Arabia was the combination of cultures, languages and artistic traditions.
From lusterware ceramics to "Kufic" script to the engagement with classical scientific literature, the artistic legacies of the Abbasid caliphate are varied.
Mosaics were highly valued throughout the first few centuries of Islam and were used alongside other precious materials as one element of elite architectural display.