Assistant Professor of Art History at Zayed University, UAE. PhD in Art History from York University, UK,  Masters with Distinction from the Open University, UK. Martin’s research interests include Early Modern architecture, Southern Italian art and architecture, architecture and political power, the reception of ornament, and intercultural interactions and hybridity in art. His dissertation was on architecture and aristocratic power in eighteenth-century Sicily. He has a forthcoming book on this topic with Amsterdam University Press, and he has presented his research at conferences in the UK and Italy. In 2011, Martin received the Association of Art Historians John Fleming Travel Award for architectural research in Italy.  In addition to his research in architectural history, Martin is interested in questions of modernism and modernity, and in the relationship between the western art historical tradition and other cultures. Martin’s undergraduate degree was in Fine Art (Painting), and he retains an interest in the history of painting and printmaking.