Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute as a device for slowing a person's fall from the air.
His 1485 Codex Atlanticus drawing shows a pyramid-shaped canopy made from linen held open by a wooden frame. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height without injury if the structure were sufficiently wide and deep.
The sketch was not a record of a tested flight, and Leonardo did not establish modern parachute design. The idea nevertheless identified the essential principle: aerodynamic drag can reduce falling speed. Modern parachutes use flexible fabric canopies, suspension lines, and harnesses rather than Leonardo's rigid pyramid.
A common mix-up is calling this a flying machine. It was intended to descend safely, not to provide powered or sustained flight. The design is one of several Renaissance concepts later associated with aerospace history.