Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramidal parachute as a device intended to slow a person’s fall.
The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus, a collection of Leonardo’s notes and drawings. It consists of a rigid wooden frame covered with linen cloth, forming a pyramid-like canopy. Leonardo wrote that a person could descend safely from a great height with such a structure.
The sketch predates practical parachutes by centuries, but it was not a modern parachute in every detail. Leonardo’s canopy was supported by a frame rather than opening from a compact pack, and there is no evidence that he tested it. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-scale replica, reporting a successful descent after releasing it from a hot-air balloon.
Leonardo’s parachute is often confused with his flying-machine sketches. Unlike an ornithopter or glider, it was designed for controlled descent rather than powered or soaring flight.