Toward a General Theory of Legal Iconology

This article proposes the first systematic general theory of legal iconology, an interdisciplinary field that examines law as a system of visual symbols. Legal images are categorized into four ideal types as follows: portraits, object representations, imaginal images, and audiovisual recordings. The analysis develops the following three core analytical categories—image validity, image effect, and image norms. Drawing on iconology, hermeneutics, semiotics, and phenomenology, the framework reveals the mutually constitutive relationship between legal consciousness and visual expression, offering an epistemological pathway beyond the subject–object dichotomy of traditional empirical legal research.