Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped emergency descent device was a parachute.
In a notebook entry from around 1485, Leonardo described a pyramidal linen structure supported by poles. He proposed that a person could descend safely from a great height while enclosed beneath the canopy. The design is widely regarded as an early parachute concept.
Leonardo’s idea depended on air resistance: the canopy would spread out and slow the fall. His description included approximate dimensions, making it more specific than a vague imaginative sketch. It was not tested during his lifetime, and there is no evidence that he built a functioning example.
Modern parachutes usually use curved or ram-air canopies and flexible fabrics, so Leonardo’s rigid pyramid is not a direct technical model for today’s equipment. In 2000, Adrian Nichols tested a full-scale replica and successfully descended, though he used a modern safety parachute as backup.