Visual humour
My first major research field examined humour in Greek vase-painting and the visual conventions that made a joke legible to an ancient viewer.
Explore the researchAlexandre G. Mitchell
Archaeologist
& Writer
My work moves between archaeology, visual culture and writing: from humour in ancient Greek art and the modern reception of antiquity to the ways objects, images and stories carry meaning across time.
Background
Across objects, images & texts
I was born in Oxford and raised in Brussels. I studied Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology before completing postgraduate work in classical archaeology at Strasbourg and a D.Phil. in Classical Archaeology at the University of Oxford.
That training still shapes the way I work. I tend to begin with the object or image itself: how it was made, how it differs from comparable examples, how it was seen, and what those differences can tell us about the society that produced it.
Over time, that approach has expanded from ancient Greek visual humour into the reception of antiquity in modern political cartoons, representations of illness and bodily difference, and questions about how images cross between scholarly, popular and political cultures.
Research
Visual culture as historical evidence
Much of my research asks what happens when images usually treated as marginal, comic, ephemeral or anomalous are taken seriously as evidence.
Antiquity after antiquity
I study how classical figures, stories and visual formulas are reused in political cartoons, propaganda and contemporary public debate.
Explore the researchMedicine & difference
Another strand of my work considers pathological bodies, disability, caricature and the difficult boundary between diagnosis and interpretation.
Explore the researchBooks & current work
Research and fiction develop side by side
My monograph Greek Vase-Painting and the Origins of Visual Humour was published by Cambridge University Press in 2009. My current non-fiction book, Echoes of Antiquity, examines the use of Greco-Roman antiquity in political cartoons across major modern crises and conflicts.
Non-fiction
Echoes of Antiquity is represented by Zeitgeist, which is currently seeking a publisher for the book.
I also write contemporary archaeological thrillers. The 13th Tablet was published in English and translated into Japanese; The Snake of Babylon first appeared in Bulgarian. Alongside these publication histories, I am revising and developing fiction as part of an active portfolio of current projects.
Fiction
I am currently seeking new literary representation for my fiction.
Beyond the personal site
Research, communication & visual work
Some parts of my professional work have their own identities and are kept deliberately separate from this site.
Expressum
I direct Expressum, working with researchers, universities, museums and European projects on French–English scholarly translation, editorial work, research communication and funding strategy.
Visit ExpressumCities of Lost Memory
A separate body of visual work concerned with Jewish history, memory, disappearance and survival. It remains distinct from the archaeological drawings shown on this site.
Visit Cities of Lost MemoryClassical Reception
A dedicated portal for my work on the modern reception of Greco-Roman antiquity, particularly its use in political and satirical imagery.
Visit Classical ReceptionA common thread
Looking closely, then asking why
Research, drawing and fiction may look like different activities, but for me they begin in much the same place: with close attention to an object, an image, a fragment of text or an unexpected detail — followed by the question of what story it allows us to tell.
Contact