Which Leonardo da Vinci design is considered an early concept for a parachute?

Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramidal parachute design is considered an early parachute concept.

Leonardo included the design in the Codex Atlanticus, probably around 1485. It consisted of a rigid pyramid-shaped frame covered with linen, with the person suspended beneath it. His notes proposed that a person could descend safely from a great height using the structure.

Leonardo did not test the parachute, and it was not made from modern lightweight materials. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas built and tested a replica based on Leonardo’s dimensions. The replica descended successfully, although Nicholas opened a modern parachute afterward because the rigid historical design posed landing risks.

The design is distinct from Leonardo’s aerial screw: the parachute is for controlled descent, not powered ascent. It also predates the practical parachutes developed much later. Leonardo’s work shows that he understood air resistance could slow a falling body, even though the materials and testing methods of his era limited what he could build.