Translation, illustration and interpretation have at least two things in common. They all begin when sense is made in the act of reading: that is where illustrative images and explanatory words begin to form. And they all ask to be understood in relation to the works from which they have arisen: reading them is a matter of reading readings. 'Likenesses' explores this palimpsestic realm, illustrating key concepts by examining examples from Dante to the contemporary sculptor Rachel Whiteread.