Our Gemara on Amud Beis uses the following verse (Exodus 20:19) to teach us that it is forbidden to make an image of a human, even if not for idolatrous intent:
לֹא תַעֲשׂוּן אִתִּי״ — לֹא תַּעֲשׂוּן אוֹתִי.
You shall not make with Me [iti]”, This can be read as: You shall not make Me [oti]
The derasha is a play on words, which comes to mean do not make images of Me, God. Since Man is made in God’s image, so an image of a human is an image of God.
We know Man is made in God’s image, as the verse states in Bereishis 1:17:
וַיִּבְרָ֨א אֱלֹהִ֤ים ׀ אֶת־הָֽאָדָם֙ בְּצַלְמ֔וֹ בְּצֶ֥לֶם אֱלֹהִ֖ים בָּרָ֣א אֹת֑וֹ זָכָ֥ר וּנְקֵבָ֖ה בָּרָ֥א אֹתָֽם׃
And God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
An interesting side point, which speaks for itself, is that the image of God, whatever it means, is both Man and Woman. Think about that one.
What does it mean to be made in the image of God? It cannot mean that our bodies are like God somehow, as the Rambam says in Yesode HaTorah (1:8):
Behold, it is clearly indicated in the Torah and in the Prophets that the Holy One, blessed is He! is Incorporeal for it is said: "That the Lord, He is God in heaven above and upon the earth beneath" (Deut. 4.39); a corporeal being is incapable of being in two places simultaneously; and it is also said: "For ye saw no manner of form" (Ibid.–15); and it is moreover said: "To whom will ye liken me, that I should be equal?" (Isa. 40,25); had He been corporeal He would be like other bodies.
Furthermore, in Hilchos Teshuva (3:6-7), Rambam says that one who believes that God has a body is considered a heretic and loses his share in the world to come, though he may still believe in God.
(It is notable that the Ra’avad objects to this formulation. That is, though he agrees with the principle that one must not think that God has a body or is subject to anything physical, if a person has a mistaken notion he is not a full heretic, as there are far too many misleading verses and midrashim that would lead one to think God is subject to physicality. So, while it is not a correct idea, it cannot be heretical, as the Torah would not mislead in such a substantial manner, using phrases like God is angry, or God came down to see.)
Seforno Bereishis (5:1) indicates that Man having free choice is what makes him in the image of God, while in 1:27, he says that man having intellect is what is in the image of God. The Guide for the Perplexed (1:1) says the same idea.
Near the beginning of Nefesh HaChayyim (Gate One), Rav Chaim Volozhin offers a unique idea about being made in the image of God. Humans in some quality, share a similarity with God in that humans have an effect on the entire creation. Whatever they do has a profound effect on all the universes:
And the sages said in Eikha Rabba (1:33, on verse 1:6): “Rabbi Azarya said in the name of Rabbi Yehuda the son of Rabbi Seemon: ‘When Israel performs God’s will, the Almighty’s power increases, as is written (Tehillim 60:14): “through Elokim we will make valor. ” And when Israel doesn’t perform God’s will, it is as if they weaken the great power of heaven, as is written (Devarim 32:18): “Rock, your children weaken You.”
The pashut peshat is, צ֥וּר יְלָדְךָ֖ תֶּ֑שִׁי “You forgot (teshi) the one who formed you (tzur yeladecha)” but the derash is, you weakened (teshi) God’s ability to have impact in this world. The point is, that we are made in the image of God, that our actions have cosmic implications.
If all this is so, that being made in God’s image does NOT refer to a physical form, we then must ask on our Gemara, how is the derasha, “do not make images of Me”, sensible? How can this be a source for not making a sculpture of a human, if the way that we are in God’s image is not a physical form anyhow? If anything, we should not be allowed to make a picture of the soul or the brain?
The pashut peshat is that since the word image is still used, though it is a metaphor, the Torah forbids a human physical image. After all, Chometz on Pesach may be a symbol of arrogance or sin, but the Torah forbids leavened bread on Pesach, not arrogance. (Although it is a good idea to scrub arrogance from your heart on Pesach as well.)
A nuanced interpretation of Rabbenu Chananel on this daf shows another peshat. Rabbenu Chananel actually does not refer to the verses in Bereishis, that Man is made in God’s image. He says do not make images of how I APPEARED to prophets in their visions, as many of the prophets saw God as some kind of angelic, fiery person or King on a throne. The fact that Rabbenu Chananel references the prophets instead of the explicit verses in Bereishis are no doubt to obviate our question.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation 
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