Ancient country seen in pictures in spring (6)
I believe the answer is:
sparta
'ancient country' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'pictures in spring' is the wordplay.
'pictures' becomes 'art'.
'in' means one lot of letters goes inside another.
'spring' becomes 'spa' (spa can mean a mineral spring).
'art' placed into 'spa' is 'SPARTA'.
'seen in' is the link.
(Other definitions for sparta that I've seen before include "Ancient Greek city whose citizens were famed for toughness" , "Formerly "City" , "Ancient Greek city noted for tough citizens" , "Enemy of Athens?" , "Ancient Greek city where great self-denial was practised" .)