Champfleury was the pseudonym of Jules Félix François Husson, a.k.a. Fleury. When Nadar’s Pantheon was released, Champfleury’s name was in the news. He had recently published several volumes, pantomimes, and a triptych: Chien-Caillou (Pebble-Dog), Feu Miette (Crumb Fire) and Pauvre trompette (Poor Trumpet, 1847); a novel about Bohemian life, Les Aventures de Mademoiselle Mariette (1853), as well as an essay that helped establish his reputation, Les Excentriques (1852). A fan of Balzac’s work, he had been rubbing shoulders with Courbet at the Brasserie Andler for quite some time, and defended a new esthetic: Realism. His fame came essentially from the press, and he contributed to a great many newspapers. His social climbing and his scission from the Bohemians often led him and Nadar into conflict. Nevertheless, a few years later, Nadar dedicated his Mémoires du Géant (Memoirs of Le Géant): "To my old comrade Chien Fleury (a.k.a. Chien Caillou).”
Yet relations between Félix Nadar and Champfleury had never actually been very cordial: in fact, they nearly had a duel in 1848. An advocate of realism in both painting and literature, Champfleury is portrayed as a ragpicker: basket on back and hook in hand, rummaging through the rubbish at the foot of a boundary stone. Nadar was illustrating a common criticism of the Realist school, namely that they looked for their subjects amidst mud and muck, at the expense of ideals and moral elevation.