A young woman stands nude on a red carpet, her body mostly exposed except for a dark fur robe draped loosely around her shoulders and hips, with her right arm pressing her breasts together and her left hand holding the fur against her belly. Her gaze meets the viewer directly, her expression calm and unembarrassed, with waist-length red hair and a single earring visible. Peter Paul Rubens painted Helena Fourment in a Fur Robe in 1638, portraying his second wife as she emerges from her bath, wrapped only in a short fur mantle.

The pose recalls the Venus pudica of classical sculpture, yet Rubens combines this reference with a striking realism, depicting dimpled knees, folds of flesh, and the marks of clothing on her body. According to tradition, Rubens surprised Helena on her way to bathe and asked her to pose as she was, resulting in an image that is both intimate and celebrated for its candid depiction of the artist's wife.