I noted this down years ago in my notbook, and came across it recently while tidying up:
The curatorial note to a painting by Herbert Schmalz 1856-1935 "Too Late", 1886:
"Late Victorian England saw itself as the inheritor of both Christian and classical traditions..."both world views". They also defined their age as one of transition"
The painting does not remain in my memory, however, the comment is interesting when seen as a remark on the culture that produced Darwin and his ideas. In Darwin's idea of evolution there is much more of Victorian preoccupations than there is of science; as Stephen Gould was apt to remind his readers from time to time.
