Note: there is the kind of likeness that is no likeness at all. Mikael Aktor calls it ‘aniconism’. [1]
Note: to follow this train of thought read Aktor and W. J. T. Mitchell together. [2]
Note: Aktor describes stones and poles whose visual qualities are nothing like the deities they make present in Indian village environments. Mitchell famously said that if pictures were persons, then they would demand equal rights.
References:
[1] Aktor, M. (2017) ‘The Hindu pañcāyatanapūjā in the aniconism spectrum’, Religion, 47:3, pp. 503-519.
[2] Mitchell, W. J. T. (1996) ‘What do pictures “really” want?’, October, Summer, 1996, Vol. 77, pp. 71-82.