How did Claude Lorrain influence the way Camille Corot used figures in landscapes?

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Camille Corot: Portrait de l'artiste, assis près d'un chevalet — Camille Corot *Portrait de l'artiste, assis près d'un chevalet* (“Portrait of the Artist, Seated Near an Easel”), oil on paper pasted on canvas by Camille Corot, 1825; in the Louvre, Paris.

Camille Corot viewed landscape painting as his primary interest, and consequently, he utilized figures in his work in an incidental manner, much like the 17th-century painter Claude Lorrain.1

In this approach, the figures were not the central focus of the composition but served to complement the landscape, often being identified with characters from legend, literature, or the Bible to provide a sense of dignity to the finished works. This method mirrors the practice of Claude Lorrain, whose own landscapes—which were highly influential in the development of the genre—almost always included figures or animals, whether they were simple shepherds or subjects derived from Classical mythology and sacred history.12