This original poster was designed by Joseph de La Nézière and printed using lithography by Lucien Serre et Compagnie in Paris in 1926.

The poster promoted the legendary Simplon-Orient-Express train line, which at the time crossed Europe all the way to Baghdad, passing at the foot of the Acropolis, as depicted in the image. The route ran through London, Calais, Paris, Dijon, Lausanne, Milan, Venice, Trieste, Belgrade, and Sofia, with connections to Athens and Bucharest, before reaching Constantinople.

The artist plays with the color codes of ancient Greece, drawing inspiration in particular from famous Greek vases through the use of white, black, and ocher tones, as well as a geometric frieze framing the entire poster. He also wrote “Athens” in Greek on the right side of the image, the lettering standing out in white against a black background. The modernity of the black train with its white smoke in the foreground contrasts with the Greek ruins rising on the horizon and the mythological figures overlooking the scene. The artist also employs a very modern black-and-white typographic style for the period, both in the rounded name of the train line at the top of the poster and in the list of cities at the bottom.

This poster has been linen-backed and measures 30.7 by 42.5 inches.