Leonardo da Vinci designed a pyramidal parachute in 1485 as a device for descending safely from a height.
His notebook sketch shows a wooden pyramid-shaped frame covered with linen cloth. Leonardo estimated that a person could jump from a great height while suspended beneath the structure. The design was based on his study of air resistance and falling bodies.
Leonardo never built or tested the parachute. Modern recreations have shown that the basic concept can work, although the original wooden frame would be heavy and difficult to control. The design is often described as an early parachute rather than a practical working aircraft.
People sometimes confuse it with Leonardo’s flying-machine studies. A parachute is intended to slow a descent, while his ornithopter designs were intended to produce lift through flapping wings.