Baudelaire posits modernity in literature and painting as the product of an artist who is part rag-picker, part alchemist. According to Walter Benjamin, the Baudelairean artist collects the refuse of modern life and transforms it into modern art by passing it through the alembic of their imagination. This theory is particularly relevant to the study of Édouard Manet's paintings. In addition to these theoretical elements, there are a few colourful anecdotes.