Leonardo da Vinci described a parachute in a 1485 sketch in the Codex Atlanticus.
His design used a rigid pyramidal wooden frame covered with linen cloth. Leonardo wrote that a person could descend safely from any great height with such a structure, although the design was never tested in his lifetime.
The parachute was an early theoretical design rather than a practical finished machine. It is often confused with Leonardo’s later flying-machine studies, which aimed to generate lift rather than slow a fall.
Modern parachutes use flexible fabric canopies, suspension lines, and harnesses. Leonardo’s version instead depended on a large, stiff canopy-like frame to create drag.