I don’t know about you, but I find this frieze pretty bizarre….even disturbing. What’s so odd about it is the representation of about half a child…..one leg, half a body, make one arm (I’m not even sure about that!)….and I don’t know what’s hiding the child’s head….a cabbage??
This image immediately reminded me of two things. First, a church I visited in Salvador, in Brazil. In one room the ceiling was covered with latex models of parts of peoples’ bodies….arms, legs, hands, and sometimes even a whole small child…..all suspended from the ceiling, each one created in gratitude for a miracle of healing. I know it was supposed to be a celebration but I found it really disturbing!
The second thing it reminded me of was Roger McGough’s wonderful poem “Bits of me”
When people ask: ‘How are you?’
I say, ‘Bits of me are fine.’
And they are. Lots of me I’d take
anywhere. Be proud to show it off.
But it’s the bits that can’t be seen
that worry. The boys in the backroom
who never get introduced.
The ones with the Latin names
who grumble about the hours I keep
and bang on the ceiling
When I’m enjoying myself. The overseers.
The smug biders of time.
Over the years our lifestyles
have become incompatible.
We were never really suited
and now I think they want out.
One day, on cue, they’ll down tools.
Then it’s curtains for me. (Washable
plastic ones on three sides.) Post-op.
Pre-med. The bed nearest the door.
Enter cheerful staff nurse (Irish
preferably), ‘And how are you today?’
(I see red.) Famous last words:
‘Bits of me are fine.’ On cue, dead.
This is the opposite of holism, and we are all guilty of it…..too focussed on too little. Reality needs to be understood holistically…..bits are never enough.
Heroes Not Zombies 
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