Since the seventeenth century, panoramic views introduced a new concept within landscape painting, which would evolve over the following century with the contributions by John Constable (1776-1837) and William Turner (1775-1851) and then spread throughout the whole of Europe. In Spain, it would become a very popular style of landscape painting in the 1800s, mainly in urban depictions.

In the Basque Country, one of the most attractive subject matters for artists was the Bilbao estuary and its surroundings. This can be seen as far back as the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when many prints were made, but it was the works by Luis Paret y Alcázar (1746-1799) that promoted the images of Bilbao, which reached the height of their popularity in the second half of the nineteenth century thanks to local painters, but also to other Spanish artists like Pablo Gonzalvo.

A specialist in urban and architectural landscapes, Gonzalvo painted this panoramic view in 1857, which is complemented by View of the Nervión Estuary, also in the BBVA Collection. In it, he depicts the development of the estuary between Bilbao and the Abra bay. Both works offer a vista from a similar viewpoint, near Castrejana, although in this case facing the mouth, with the sea framed by Mount Serantes and the headland of Punta Galea. We can see the confluence of the rivers Nervión and Cadagua, with the Burceña bridge and the old Mercedarian convent. In the background, among other geographical features defining the place, we can make out a piece of land that could correspond to Las Arenas.

The painting, a superb example of Gonzalvo’s early period, showcases the artist’s personal style, rendering the scene in thorough detail. By adopting a high viewpoint, underscored by the wide horizon, the painter manages to instil the whole with a sense of grandeur. The interesting study of light enhances the nostalgic view which seems to foreshadow the transformation of the economy, society and landscape of the industrial Bilbao in later years that would lead to a dramatic change in the city layout. Furthermore, the work was created at a time when photographic views were still rare, a fact that also gives it great documentary value.