The Eye of the Law: Two Essays on Legal History

The very constitution of both ancient and modern society rests on the communal acceptance of an image that represents the founder, whether God, King, law, nation or constitution. This brief description, no doubt, begs many questions. Tracing the precise modifications of the regime of images remains a task outside the realms of this book, but it seems both theoretically defensible and experientially resonant that social and political order is legitimised and perpetuated by images. [1, p.30]