Leonardo da Vinci’s 1485 pyramid-shaped flight design became known as a parachute.
Leonardo drew the design in the Codex Atlanticus. It used a pyramid-shaped wooden framework covered with linen cloth. His notes suggested that a person could descend safely from a great height using the structure, although there is no evidence that Leonardo built or tested it.
The design is important because it shows Leonardo reasoning about air resistance centuries before practical parachutes appeared. A parachute slows a fall by creating drag, not by producing powered flight. Leonardo’s version was rigid and pyramid-shaped, unlike the flexible fabric canopies used today.
The modern parachute developed much later. André-Jacques Garnerin made a well-known successful parachute descent in 1797, and parachutes later became important in aviation, military operations, and emergency escape systems. Leonardo’s drawing is therefore a famous early concept rather than a documented working parachute.