The artistic society Vesna, which included Gvidon Birolla among its ranks, outlined an ambitious social program in the spirit and with the aim of encouraging national awareness, founded on researching autochthonous traditions and national motifs. These motifs were sought in daily agrarian lives, in traditional folklore, traditions, customs, and songs, and in the rustic trades and crafts of the time. Even after the society disbanded, Birolla steadfastly remained committed to researching local iconography, and it was Škofja Loka with its surroundings that supplied him with an inexhaustible source of motifs, including those of squatters and vagabonds, as well as more romantic travelers. A Harpist (Harfist) is a romantic depiction – an old man playing the harp, always on the road, never with a specific destination. Bent over, he approaches the villages, where he is joined by a dog, enhancing the artist’s intention of depicting suadade and isolation.