The authority for the personal appearance of Basil is an anonymous Vatican document quoted by Baronius, Ann. 378:  “Procero fuit habitu corporis et recto, siccus, gracilis; color ejus fuscus, vultus temperatus pallore, justus nasus, supercilia in orbem inflexa et adducta; cogitabundo similis fuit, paucæ in vultu rugæ, eœque renidentes, genæ oblongæ, tempora aliquantum cava, promissa barba, et mediocris canities.”