Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute to let a person descend safely from a height.
His design, recorded in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485, used a pyramid-shaped wooden frame covered with linen. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height while protected by the structure. The design is usually interpreted as an early parachute concept because its canopy was intended to create drag and slow the fall.
Leonardo never appears to have tested the design himself. Modern analysis has found that a full-size version could generate substantial drag, although the rigid pyramid frame would make it very different from a modern fabric parachute. A successful modern recreation was made by Adrian Nichols in 2000, with a separate safety parachute used for the landing.
The sketch is not a modern round canopy. Its distinctive pyramid form is why it is often identified specifically as Leonardo’s parachute design.