Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramidal parachute in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485.
His design used a rigid wooden frame supporting a linen canopy. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height while remaining unharmed, provided the structure was sufficiently wide and deep.
The drawing is often described as an early parachute concept, but it was not tested during Leonardo’s lifetime. Its pyramidal form differs from the rounded canopies used by most modern parachutes.
In 2000, British adventurer Adrian Nicholas built and tested a full-size replica. The replica descended successfully, although Nicholas used a modern parachute for safety during the final part of the experiment. Leonardo’s design is therefore historically important as an early systematic study of controlled descent, not as the first working parachute.