The period of formation of Nicholas Konstantinovich Roerich (1874–1947) as an artist, historian and archaeologist coincided with the heyday of Russian Art Nouveau. His early work is one of the brightest pages of Russian symbolism. Nicholas Roerich admired the richness of imagination and the beauty of the spiritual world of the Russian people, that is why he turned to the foundations: folklore, mythology, history, from which he drew material for his metaphorical images.

One of the most important components of his 1916 painting “Flying Carpet” is an elaborate color scheme. The frozen nature of the panoramic epic landscape is absorbed by the rich color of the blue sky. This main color sounds in full force on the canvas of Nicholas Konstantinovich and creates a tense and dramatic emotional background.

The Russian art historian and art critic Sergei Rostislavovich Ernst (1894–1980) wrote in a 1918 book dedicated to the artist,

Nicholas Roerich saw a connection between the nature of the Russian land and its historical memory. For him, it was a witness to what happened in Russia, and was an integral part of the people’s existence. It was precisely such nature that the artist depicted as a polysemous poetic image.

On the canvas, Nicholas Roerich painted the image of evil in a concrete form. A lone warrior stands on patrol near a camping tent, leaning on a spear. He is either brooding or dozing. Above him, in the dark night sky, among the swirling gloomy clouds, flies a magic carpet, which personifies evil. The negative principle in the image of the flying carpet is also reflected in its shape and color: Roerich made it look like a Varangian ship.

In a symbolic form, this work reflected a heavy premonition of the further events of the First World War, which had been going on for two years at the time of the creation of the painting. The canvas conveys an anxious expectation of difficult trials. The artist seemed to be calling for spiritual wakefulness in the hour of impending danger.