Leonardo da Vinci’s underwater clothing concept for breathing and diving was a diving suit.
Leonardo developed the idea in the early sixteenth century while working in Venice, where he reportedly considered ways to defend the city against hostile ships. His sketches show a diver wearing a full-body suit connected to breathing tubes that extend to the surface. The equipment also included a mask and a buoyant structure intended to keep the air passages available.
The concept addressed two major problems: supplying air underwater and protecting the diver from cold and water pressure. Leonardo also included details such as a urine-collection arrangement, showing that he considered the practical difficulties of remaining submerged for extended periods.
This design should not be confused with a modern scuba suit. It lacked a compressed-air cylinder, regulator, and proven underwater testing. Leonardo’s drawings are important because they anticipate several features of later diving equipment, but they did not create a documented, operational modern diving system.