Leonardo da Vinci’s emergency-descending device was a parachute. In a manuscript traditionally dated to around 1485, he described a pyramid-shaped canopy supported by wooden poles and covered with cloth. He proposed that a person could use it to descend safely from a great height.
The design is important because it shows Leonardo applying geometry and air resistance to a practical problem. A parachute slows a fall by presenting a large surface area to the air. Leonardo’s pyramid was not the round canopy commonly associated with modern parachutes, but it used the same broad principle.
There is no reliable evidence that Leonardo tested the design himself. A modern reconstruction was tested in 2000 by Adrian Nicholas, who reported that it descended successfully, although he used a safer modern parachute for the final landing.
Leonardo’s sketch should not be confused with his flying-machine studies. A parachute is designed primarily for controlled descent, not powered horizontal flight, and it does not need flapping wings or an engine.