What parachute did Leonardo da Vinci sketch in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485?

Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramidal parachute in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485.

His design used a rigid, pyramid-shaped wooden frame covered with linen cloth. Leonardo wrote that a person could descend safely from a great height if the structure were about 12 braccia wide and 12 braccia deep. A braccio was a historical Italian unit of length, so modern descriptions often give the design as roughly 7.2 metres across, though conversions vary.

The sketch was a theoretical design rather than evidence that Leonardo built or tested a working parachute. Its canopy shape differs substantially from modern parachutes, which are usually flexible and designed to inflate with air. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas constructed and tested a full-scale replica based on Leonardo’s notes; it descended successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final part of the landing because the rigid replica could not be steered.

Leonardo’s drawing is often called the first known engineered parachute concept, but it was not the first practical parachute. The distinction between a recorded design and a tested invention is important when discussing Renaissance technology.