Leonardo da Vinci sketched a pyramid-shaped parachute for a controlled descent from height.
Around 1485, Leonardo described a canopy made from linen held open by a wooden frame. His notes proposed a structure about 7.2 metres wide and 7.2 metres high, large enough to slow a falling person by creating air resistance. The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus.
Leonardo did not document a full-scale test, so the sketch is best described as an early parachute concept rather than a proven working parachute. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols built and tested a modern replica, descending safely after releasing it from a balloon, although he used a conventional parachute for the final landing. The pyramid shape is sometimes confused with later round parachute canopies, but it is a distinctive feature of Leonardo’s proposal.