Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped parachute was designed to let a person descend safely.
Leonardo sketched the design in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485. It consisted of a rigid wooden frame supporting linen cloth, forming a pyramid about 7.2 metres high and 7.2 metres wide at the base. The structure was intended to create resistance against falling air.
Leonardo did not build the parachute, and no evidence shows that he tested it. His concept nevertheless anticipated the principle of a parachute: a broad canopy slows descent by increasing drag. The design is often called an early parachute, although it differs from modern flexible parachutes, which use fabric canopies and suspension lines.
A 2000 experiment by British adventurer Adrian Nicholas used a full-scale replica and reported a successful descent. Nicholas later concluded that the rigid design could be dangerous to land with, so he opened a modern parachute near the ground. Leonardo’s sketch predates the first documented parachute jumps by centuries.