Alexander Ekserdjian

B.A., St John’s College, University of Oxford

Ph.D., Columbia University

Alexander Ekserdjian is a historian of ancient Mediterranean art with a specialisation in the sculpture of Hellenistic Central Italy. His research focuses on ancient responses to visual art, particularly the role played by sculpted images of the gods in religious experience. He is interested in the theology and anthropology of sacred sculpture, and the ways material culture can contribute to the study of Roman religion. Projects in progress include a monograph centred on the representation of the gods in Central Italy in the early period of Roman overseas expansion (3rd-1st centuries BCE), an article on lists of art objects inscribed in stone within Greek sanctuaries, and a study on the modern reception of ancient votive body parts, as well as chapters on experimentation in Central Italian pedimental sculpture and on the ‘limits’ of Etruscan art.

Before joining Yale (where he is appointed in Classics as well as History of Art), Ekserdjian read Classical Archaeology and Ancient History at St John’s College, Oxford and earned a Ph.D. in Art History and Archaeology from Columbia University. His research has been supported by fellowships at Columbia and the Staatliche Museen zu Berlin. He has also participated in archaeological excavations in Italy and the UK, most recently as a member of the Advanced Program in Ancient History and Art (APAHA) team at Hadrian’s Villa, Tivoli.