What did Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design use to help a person descend safely?

Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design used a pyramid-shaped canopy to help a person descend safely.

Leonardo sketched the design around 1485 in the Codex Atlanticus. It consisted of a large linen canopy stretched over a pyramid-shaped wooden frame. The drawing is usually interpreted as an early parachute concept, although Leonardo did not record a documented test flight.

The design differs from a modern parachute, which normally uses a flexible, roughly circular canopy and suspension lines. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-scale version based on Leonardo’s proportions. It descended successfully, although Nicholas used a modern parachute for the final landing because the wooden frame could be dangerous near the ground.

Leonardo’s proposal is often described as one of the earliest technically detailed parachute designs, but it was not the first known idea of a controlled descent device in all cultures.