With his public activity, the artist and traveler Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (1874–1947), greatly contributed to the movement for the protection of cultural objects. He began to think about this at the beginning of the 20th century, when he conducted archaeological excavations in Saint-Petersburg province.

In 1903, Nicholas Roerich decided to visit a number of ancient Russian cities, including Pskov. In the article “Along the Old Times, ” which he prepared in the same year, the artist wrote,

The multifaceted work of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich organically combined philosophy, painting, and literature. His works are characterized by the boundless harmony, beauty, love and wisdom, connecting the culture of the West and the East. At the same time, the origins of his work were connected with Russia, its history and cultural traditions.

In the 1904 painting “Old Pskov” in a generalized form, without stopping at details, Nicholas Roerich recreated the very spirit of the harsh medieval time. For the painting, the artist chose the combination of muted green and orange-red tones favored by Pskov icon painters. The master depicted the city as a stronghold of the Russian land, whose mighty fortress walls repeatedly repelled the onslaught of the enemy. Numerous ships off the coast serve as a reminder that the city was a major trading center.

The canvas is permeated with a vague sense of anxiety, connected with the historical fate of the city. Its location on the western borders of Ancient Russia led Pskov to be one of the first to take on the blows of enemies.