Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute to let a person descend safely from a height using a pyramid-shaped canopy.
His parachute drawing appears in the Codex Atlanticus, a major collection of his papers. The proposed canopy was made from linen held open by a wooden framework. Leonardo described a structure about 12 braccia wide and 12 braccia deep; the braccio was a historical Italian unit whose exact modern length varied.
Leonardo did not report testing the device, and no practical parachute followed directly from the sketch. The design is nevertheless recognizable as a drag-producing canopy: it would slow a falling person by pushing against the air. Its rigid pyramid shape differs from the flexible fabric parachutes commonly used today.
The concept is often linked with later claims that a modern reconstruction could work. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a reconstruction based on Leonardo’s design, although he used a modern parachute for the final part of the descent. Leonardo’s drawing is an early surviving parachute concept, not evidence of a completed flight.