Impressive. You are probably the first non native speaker I meet who read this little known short story. And since details matter, Frenhofer’s masterpiece, la belle noiseuse, is the title of Jacques Rivette’s adaptation of “le chef d’œuvre inconnu”. Jacques Rivette was one of the pillars of the Nouvelle Vague (new wave) in the 60s, along with Truffaut, Rohmer, Chabrol, Godard, Resnais, etc.
The same Rivette who, when a young film critic, slaughtered Henri-George Clouzot’s les diaboliques, another masterpiece this time of film noir.
Clouzot went on to direct Le Mystère Picasso, which allows me to tie this note to yours, despite the lack of horological content.