Leonardo da Vinci sketched a diving suit designed to let a person breathe underwater.
His early 16th-century design included a full-body suit, a mask, breathing tubes, and a system intended to keep the tubes above the water. Some drawings also show a bag or reservoir associated with the diver’s air supply. The concept was connected to military and underwater exploration ideas.
The design is often described as an early diving suit, but it should not be confused with modern scuba equipment. Leonardo did not have compressed-air cylinders, dependable regulators, or materials capable of making a practical long-duration suit. The proposal therefore remained a design rather than a proven working invention.
Leonardo’s underwater concept is notable because it approached diving as an engineering problem involving air delivery, waterproofing, and buoyancy. Modern diving suits and scuba systems developed much later through separate advances in materials, pumps, compressed gas, and breathing apparatus.