Sefer HaChinukh 27

To not make a statue: To not make statues that will be worshiped; even if the one that makes them does not worship them, the making is itself forbidden, [so as] to push off the stumbling block. And there is no difference between his making it with his hand or commanding someone else to make it, as it is stated (Exodus 20:4), “You shall not make for yourself a statue or any depiction.” And the one who commands to make it is the one who causes its making — that is the opinion of Rambam, may his memory be blessed (Sefer HaMitzvot, Negative Commandments 4). And the opinion of Ramban, may his memory be blessed, (on that entry in Sefer HaMitzvot) is that there is no prohibition here except for not making idols with the intention of worshiping them. He also wrote that this negative commandment should not be counted from this scripture, as this verse only warns about the prohibition of idolatry which comes with the death penalty; but with the making of idols, the whole time that he does not worship them, the only thing he is liable for is lashes. And he, may his memory be blessed, wrote that this whole verse of “You shall have no,” is considered one negative commandment [that] warns not to concede the divinity of anything besides Him; whether he accepts it as a god — meaning to say that he says to it, “You are my god” — or bows down to it, or worships it in one of the four forbidden worships or worships it with the worship that is particular to it. Rather, he wrote that the [prohibition] of making idols and their preservation is extrapolated from the verse (Leviticus 19:4), “Do not turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves.” And I wonder about that which Rambam, may his memory be blessed, wrote that there is no difference if he made it with his hand or if he commanded to make it — as behold, the one who commands is a dispatcher, and it is an established [principle] for us that a dispatcher is exempt.

The root of this commandment is known, that it is to distance the idols (idolatry).

The laws of the commandment — for example, [regarding] one who makes forms, which one is forbidden to make and which one is permissible; the distinction between a protruding [form] and a sunken [one]; the law of a ring that has a seal upon it; and the rest of its details — are [all] elucidated in Tractate Avodah Zarah 43b. (See Tur, Yoreh Deah 139-141.)

And [it] is practiced in every place and at all times by males and females. And one who transgresses it volitionally and makes idols that will be worshiped is lashed.