During Early Modern Europe, amputees, whether they lose a part of them through war or everyday life, made up a non-negligible size of the population and having prosthesis was an important social distinction marker through multiple aspects, such as material, aesthetic or even the way they are made… This social marker is also one that involves many corporations, such as painters, clock-makers and blacksmiths; and having a prosthesis made through them is also a sign of social marker.
But for a setting known for its wars and horrors beyond the veil, Warhammer 40k has very little written lore surrounding prosthesis, but has an important amount of representation whether they be miniatures or drawings. This quantity of material can helps us better understand how social class can be represented through the different media composing Warhammer 40k, specifically miniatures.
Our analysis will mainly include the Imperium of Man and chaos aligned factions for the quantity of shared aesthetic between them. But more importantly what is of interest for us, is to see if social distinction is shown through the different prosthesis of Games Workshop’s miniatures and artworks can be put in comparison of historical artifacts from Early Modern Europe.
Author bio
Théophile Mattera: Long fan of Warhammer 40k, for almost 14 years, and having a Masters Degree in Early Modern History on amputations and prosthesis in France during said period. And I wanted to use what I have learned to offer a better understanding of 40k.
