Abysm of Ages

In which Richard Owen awakens from his horrible nightmare.

The separation of God from science was a difficult prospect for Victorian biologists, having lived safe in the comfort of knowing that God made all things and all things had been around since God made them. Discovering that God had, in fact, seemingly not only had an experimental phase made up of horrible monsters, but that said phase may have been before Adam walked through the Garden of Eden was, in a word, unthinkable.

I wanted to cap this little escapade off with a bit of religious psychosis to represent the turmoil that paleontologists of the time faced in classifying these animals and having their beliefs rightfully challenged, not only by their discoveries, but by progressive scientists and thinkers such as Darwin.

Paintings and etchings referenced here are by Dore and Blake, both contemporaries with a heavy focus on religious iconography.