Polydore Millaud was a businessman and press baron who rapidly became spectaculary wealthy in the 1840s. Nadar and he were old friends. In June 1853, he purchased 400 portraits from Nadar's Pantheon for a significant sum, thus enabling Nadar to complete and publicize his project, as well as to rent the studio at 113  Rue Saint-Lazare. Even if Millaud's purchase was essentially to flaunt his wealth and power within the world of the press, he nevertheless became the patron and savior of Nadar's project.