Center for the Study of the Early Modern World

An emblem scholar, Pedro specializes in the relationship between literature and visual cultures in the early-modern period, with an emphasis in the early Americas. After obtaining a Ph.D. in Text and Image Studies from the University of Glasgow, Leal held research and teaching positions in Brazil, Belgium and Scotland, before settling in the neighborhood of HP Lovecraft, where he is the Assistant Director for Digital Engagement and Discovery at the John Carter Brown Library.

He currently studies the impact of the emblematic culture among indigenous populations in the Americas, with two books edited on this subject: Emblems in Colonial Ibero-America (Glasgow Emblem Studies 18, distributed by Droz) and Jeroglificos en la Edad Moderna (Janus, Spain). He also writes on the reception of Horapollon's Hieroglyphica in the long Renaissance.