Leonardo da Vinci’s design for slowing a person’s descent was a parachute.
Leonardo drew the parachute in the Codex Atlanticus, dating the sketch to about 1485. His design consisted of a pyramid-shaped wooden frame covered with linen cloth. He wrote that a person could jump from a great height while protected by a structure about 12 braccia wide and 12 braccia deep.
The design is an important early parachute concept because it recognized that a broad canopy could create air resistance and reduce falling speed. Leonardo did not build or test it, and the heavy rigid frame would have made the original design dangerous by modern standards.
In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols tested a full-scale replica based on Leonardo’s drawing. The replica reportedly worked, although Nichols used a modern parachute as a safety measure. Leonardo’s parachute was therefore a theoretical invention, not a documented successful flight device.