Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped parachute design is the invention that resembles a modern parachute.
Leonardo sketched the design around 1485 in the Codex Atlanticus. It consisted of a sealed linen canopy stretched over a rigid, pyramid-shaped wooden frame. His notes suggested that a person could descend safely from a great height with such a device.
The design is important because it shows Leonardo applying observation and geometry to controlled descent, centuries before practical parachutes were developed. It was not a fabric parachute in the modern flexible sense: the wooden structure kept the canopy open, while the cloth created drag against the air.
Leonardo did not build and test the parachute during his lifetime. In 2000, the British adventurer Adrian Nicholas constructed and tested a replica based on Leonardo’s sketch, although he used modern materials for safety. The experiment demonstrated that the concept could generate substantial drag, but the rigid frame made it heavy and hazardous. Leonardo’s design is therefore best described as an early parachute concept, not the first operational parachute.