Milan Central Station in 1889

This canvas—which testifies to the care Angelo Morbelli paid to contemporary subjects—is a smaller version of the work that was previously presented at the Brera Exhibition in 1887, then at the Universal Exhibition in London in 1888 and now conserved at the State Railway's headquarters in Rome.

The Milan train station, which is no longer in existence, is the subject of this painting. The station was built by Louis-Jules Bouchot (1817–1907) in 1864 in what is now Piazza della Repubblica. A puffing train enters beneath the large glass and iron archway, following the thin black lines of the rails, which create an elegant arabesque design in the foreground.

This can be immediately associated with Claude Monet and his piece "Gare Saint-Lazare" but, in reality, the connection relates solely to the theme; it is unlikely, in fact, that Morbelli was aware of Monet's work. Upon closer inspection, the differences between the 2 pieces are quite noteworthy, starting with the fact that Morbelli's station was not painted outdoors, but using a photographic cyanotype that is today stored by the artist's heirs.