What name is given to Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped parachute design described in his Codex Atlanticus?

Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped parachute design is commonly called Leonardo’s parachute.

Leonardo sketched the design around 1485 in the Codex Atlanticus. It consisted of a sealed linen canopy supported by wooden poles, forming a pyramid roughly seven metres high and wide. His notes suggested that a person could descend safely from a great height using it.

The drawing is an early parachute concept, but it was not tested in Leonardo’s lifetime. Modern parachutes use flexible fabric, suspension lines, and a harness rather than a rigid wooden frame. The design is therefore best understood as a remarkably early theoretical solution to controlled descent, not as the first practical parachute.

In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-scale replica. He reported that it descended successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing because the rigid structure could be dangerous near the ground.