Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute design for descending safely from a height using a pyramid-shaped linen canopy.
The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus, a major collection of Leonardo’s drawings and notes. He proposed a wooden framework supporting a linen canopy about seven metres wide and seven metres high. The pyramid shape was intended to create enough air resistance to slow a person’s fall.
Leonardo did not record a documented full-scale test, so the drawing represents an early theoretical parachute rather than a proven working aircraft. The concept is nevertheless important because it shows him applying observation and engineering to controlled descent long before modern aviation.
A common mix-up is calling this design a glider. A glider is meant to travel forward through the air with lift-producing wings, whereas a parachute primarily increases drag during a descent. Modern parachutes use flexible canopies and suspension lines, unlike Leonardo’s rigid framed proposal.