From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishbe the (very/living/spitting) image of somebodybe the (very/living/spitting) image of somebodySAMEto look exactly like someone or something else He’s the spitting image of his mother. → image
Examples from the Corpus
be the (very/living/spitting) image of somebody• Throughout the show's history, for instance, Cleese was the very image of pompous, impatient rectitude.• My favorite is the image of an aproned cook in the rear of the open kitchen.• All she had was the image of a woman lying on the ground and people desperate to help her.• It was the image of returning once again to her empty maisonette in Ealing.• But we both agreed the little mite was the spitting image of the man.• And just lagging it slightly was the image of the posed dancer.• This is the image of a successful couple.• Pressing upon the rest of us is the image of all those dormant scars in the crust potentially surging to life. 