Physiology of the Impossible - continued...

But what about floating? A floating figure would need to be weightless. That is: A group of saints floating upwards - as in Albrecht Dürer's Anbetung der Dreieinigkeit - would be an absurdity. At least, they would have no reason to keep their legs down, their heads up. The saint's hair would stand in all directions.

Albrecht Dürer, Anbetung der Dreieinigkeit, Vienna, Kunsthistorisches Museum

The two angels that hold the crown in Michelangelos Pietà in Rome would use their muscles in vain: They would fall down to earth together with the crown they seem to carry through the air.