Profile

Alexis Belis earned her Ph.D. in the field of classical archaeology. Her dissertation, “Fire on the Mountain: A Comprehensive Study of Greek Mountaintop Sanctuaries,” examines the evidence for cult activity on the mountaintops of mainland Greece and the islands, as well as the topographic and religious significance of those sites in ancient Greek society. This study represents a compilation of material collected firsthand during three years of fieldwork exploring the mountains of Greece. Her dissertation research was supported by fellowships from the American School of Classical Studies at Athens and the University of Athens. Her most recent fieldwork includes excavating a sanctuary and ash altar of Zeus on Mt. Lykaion in Arcadia, and studying survey material from a sanctuary of Zeus on Mt. Phoukas in the Corinthia. She has also worked on excavations and a Greek architecture project in ancient Corinth, and on the Princeton University excavations on Cyprus.

Alexis is currently assistant curator in the Department of Antiquities at the J. Paul Getty Museum. She received her B.A. in art history and music from the University of Notre Dame in 2000, and her M.A. in classical archaeology from Princeton in 2007. She has been an intern at the Princeton University Art Museum and at the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology, and served as a research assistant at the Harvard Art Museums, working on their collection of ancient bronzes. She has contributed to several museum handbooks, and recently authored and edited the online collection catalogue Roman Mosaics in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

Current Research

Alexis curated the exhibition Roman Mosaics across the Empire, on display at the Getty Villa March 2016–January 2018. She also works on provenance research, documenting the history of objects in the Getty’s permanent collection, and is currently preparing her dissertation for publication.