Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute as a device for descending safely through the air.
His design appears in the Codex Atlanticus, compiled from his engineering notes. It used a rigid wooden frame covered with cloth, creating a broad canopy that would resist falling through the atmosphere. Leonardo estimated that a person could drop from a great height without injury.
The design is often called the first parachute concept, although Leonardo did not build or test it. Its shape differs from modern round or ram-air parachutes, which use flexible fabric and carefully controlled airflow. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas built a full-scale version and tested a modified form from a hot-air balloon; it descended successfully, though he used a modern parachute for the final landing.
Leonardo's sketch was therefore an early theoretical design, not a confirmed working invention from the Renaissance.