"Now Theodora was fair of face and in general attractive in appearance, but short of stature and lacking in colour, being, however, not altogether pale but rather sallow, and her glance was always intense and made with contracted brows."
Procopius, The Secret History (X.11)
References: Procopius: The Secret History (1966) translated by G. A. Williamson (Penguin Classics). The mosaic of Theodora is in the apse of the church of San Vitale (Ravenna).
