Avodah Zarah 42 – Pieces of Statues

If one finds fragments of images, they are permitted. However, if he found the figure of a hand or of a foot on a pedestal, these are prohibited for benefit, because such objects are worshipped.

If an idol is known to have been broken on its own – for example, if it fell from a roof – then Rabbi Yochanan said that it is prohibited for benefit, but Resh Lakish said that it is permitted. According to Rabbi Yochanan, fragments are forbidden because no idol worshipper nullified them. But according to Resh Lakish, he did nullify it, reasoning that if the idol cannot protect itself, surely it cannot protect anybody else.

How do they both explain the story of Dagon? It had a body of a fish and the head, hands, and feet of a human. When they placed it before the Ark of God, its head and palms were severed and the priests then worshipped the threshold on which they landed. Rabbi Yochanan says that they venerated the fragments. And Resh Lakish? - He says that they thought the power abandoned Dagon and settled on the threshold.

Art: Frederic Edwin Church - Broken Column, the Parthenon, Athens