Leonardo da Vinci proposed a pyramid-shaped parachute as a way for a person to descend safely from a height.
His parachute design appears in a manuscript dated around 1485. It used a rigid wooden frame covered with linen, creating a broad canopy intended to resist the air. Leonardo wrote that a person could jump from a great height while avoiding injury, provided the structure was sufficiently wide and deep.
The design was never built during Leonardo’s lifetime, and it differs from the flexible fabric parachutes used today. Modern parachutes depend on a fabric canopy that inflates and changes shape during descent, while Leonardo’s concept was a fixed pyramid-like frame.
The idea is often cited as an early parachute concept, but it should not be confused with Leonardo’s flying-machine studies. Its importance lies in recognizing that air resistance could slow a falling person.