What type of parachute did Leonardo da Vinci describe in a 1485–1486 manuscript?

Leonardo da Vinci described a pyramidal parachute in a 1485–1486 manuscript.

His design used a pyramid-shaped linen canopy, held open by a wooden frame. Leonardo wrote that a person could descend safely from a great height with an apparatus about 12 braccia wide and 12 braccia deep. A braccio was a historical Italian unit whose exact length varied.

The design was theoretical rather than a documented flight-tested invention. It appeared among Leonardo’s studies of flight, falling bodies, air resistance, and machines. The familiar modern parachute, with a flexible canopy and suspension lines, developed much later.

A common mix-up is calling Leonardo’s design the first parachute ever used. It is better described as an early recorded parachute concept. In 2000, Adrian Nichols built and tested a modern interpretation of the design, demonstrating that its broad principle could work, although he used a safety parachute during the descent.