The seventeenth century was called the Age of Absolutism, the Age of the Counter-Reformation, the Baroque Period, the Age of World Theatre, and is most often associated with the transition from the Renaissance to the Enlightenment. Claude Lorrain lived and died during this time, and his works are some of the most celebrated pieces of the seventeenth century. Claude mastered the art of landscapes. The true distinction found between ornamental landscapes and landscapes that exist as a sole genre is the size and the function of human figues. While Claude's works almost always contained human figures, they are dissimilar to human figures in works done by artists such as Leonardo da Vinci. While da Vinci was fascinated by landscapes, his human figures played too central a role in his paintings for them to be considered true landscapes. Claude, on the other hand, used his figures to display scale and evoke sympathy for the characters in his portrayals, truly creating grand landscapes while doing so.