La frileuse

La frileuse (The Chilly One) by Jean-Jacques Henner, dated 1904, depicts a female figure who wraps herself against cold — a subject that gave Henner, an Alsatian painter famous for luminous nude studies, the opportunity to suggest the body beneath concealing drapery. Henner had built his career on a distinctive approach to feminine beauty rooted in the Italian Renaissance and Correggio's soft modelling, and subjects like this one allowed him to maintain that language in slightly more demure form. He died in 1905, making this among his last works. The Musée des beaux-arts de Mulhouse in his native Alsace holds this late canvas.

Henner applies his characteristic technique of soft, atmospheric modelling, blurring contours and using warm reddish-brown grounds to give his flesh tones their characteristic glow. The drapery is handled loosely, suggesting the body's warmth beneath the fabric's cool folds.