A piece from the early period of production of the artist, when he was still studying Perspective at the Escuela Superior de Pintura y Escultura in Madrid, representing a view of the estuary of Bilbao from upstream in Mount Cobeña. It is of exceptional documentary value, for it records the city boundaries at the time. Its detailed topography allows us to make out every construction that existed before the new urban expansion called the Ensanche, around which Bilbao developed at a fast pace soon afterwards, completely transforming the appearance of the estuary.

In the bottom left corner there is the river bend of Olaveaga, with its shipyard, the riggings, and the docked ships, followed by Basurto and the parish of Abando—where the Ensanche of Bilbao would later develop—and then the city centre, which at the time comprised nine hundred buildings and 17,649 inhabitants.

In the background we see the sierras of Archanda, Santo Domingo and Begoña, where the Santa Ana mines were already operative. On the other bank, the areas of La Botica, Deusto, El Matadero, La Salve, El Campo Volantín and San Agustín, where the convent had already disappeared.

This painting forms a pair with Mouth of the Estuary in Bilbao, also in the BBVA Collection.