Understanding the genesis of a multi-layered byzantine manuscript: The illuminated copy of elias of crete’s commentary on Gregory Nazianzen (Basel, UB, AN I 8)

It has been widely agreed that the manuscript Basel, UB, AN I 8, featuring the second part of Elias of Crete’s commentary to the “unread” homilies of Gregory Nazianzen, was decorated with an impressive set of full-page illuminations serving as frontispieces to each commentary in a second phase, sometime after the text and initial portraits had been copied. Karin Krause’s recent and well-documented article called for a re-examination of this book’s genetic history. The study here focuses on several of its most surprising features, offering a fresh look and a hopefully more plausible explanation for the origin and production process of these images.