In the context of this artwork, analyze the Creation of the Background.
Courbet likely drew inspiration from two different types of sources. One is seventeenth-century Dutch group portraits, such as Banquet of Captain Bicker (1648), Company of Captain Allaert Cloek (1632), or Meagre Company (1637). The other is woodcuts from the 1830s and 40s such as Souvenir Mortuaire (1830), featuring an elevated cross and a grave digger the left, and Degrés des Âges (1830), depicting individuals in a semicircle around a scene of death. While these all likely had an impact on the creation of the painting, Courbet scholar Gerstle Mack claims that the original inspiration for the painting most likely came from the funeral of Oudot, Courbet's grandfather, who had died a year before he created the painting. According to another theory, the painting is based on a funeral for a member of the Proudhon family; Courbet was close with Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, and some of the figures in Burial are said to resemble members of the family. Courbet made a sketch prior to the final work, and the people of Ornans posed as models.
Meagre Company Ornans Pierre-Joseph Proudhon