Leonardo da Vinci designed a parachute with a large conical canopy.
His parachute sketch appears in the Codex Atlanticus and shows a pyramid-shaped frame covered with fabric. Leonardo proposed that a person could descend safely from a height inside the structure. The design was based on the idea that a broad canopy would create air resistance and slow the fall.
Leonardo did not build or test the parachute, so its performance cannot be attributed directly to him. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas made a replica and tested it from a hot-air balloon. The replica descended successfully, although Nicholas used a modern parachute for the final landing because of concerns about the heavy wooden frame.
Leonardo’s design is often called the first recorded parachute concept, but it was not the first practical parachute. Modern parachutes use flexible canopies, suspension lines, and harnesses that make them much lighter and more controllable than the Renaissance proposal.