What Leonardo da Vinci design is widely known as the first practical parachute concept?

Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramidal parachute is widely known as the first practical parachute concept.

Leonardo sketched the design in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485. It consisted of a rigid pyramid-shaped frame covered with linen cloth. His notes proposed a structure about seven metres high and seven metres wide, large enough to slow a person’s descent through the air.

Leonardo did not record a completed test, and the design was not built in his lifetime. Nevertheless, its central idea was sound: a broad canopy creates air resistance, reducing falling speed. In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-size replica, reporting that it descended successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing.

The pyramidal form distinguishes Leonardo’s concept from later round parachutes. The sketch is therefore best described as an early parachute design, not the first parachute ever used in practice.