Leonardo da Vinci sketched a parachute as a pyramid-shaped wooden frame covered with cloth.
The design appears in the Codex Atlanticus, where Leonardo proposed a rigid structure about seven metres high and seven metres wide. He wrote that a person could jump from a height while holding the device and land safely, provided the canopy was sufficiently large.
Leonardo’s parachute was not a practical modern parachute: it had no harness, suspension lines, or flexible canopy. Its pyramid frame was intended to keep the cloth open and create drag during descent. In 2000, the British adventurer Adrian Nichols tested a replica and reported that it descended successfully, although he used a modern backup parachute for safety.
The design is often confused with Leonardo’s flying-machine sketches. A parachute does not create powered lift; it slows a falling body by increasing air resistance. Modern parachutes use collapsible fabric canopies and carefully arranged lines rather than a rigid wooden frame.