Which Leonardo da Vinci invention is often considered an early parachute design?

Leonardo da Vinci’s early parachute design was a pyramidal parachute.

Leonardo sketched the design around 1485 in the Codex Atlanticus. It consists of a rigid-looking pyramid-shaped framework covered with linen cloth. His notes proposed a structure about 7.2 metres high and 7.2 metres wide, intended to let a person descend safely from a great height.

The drawing is an example of Leonardo reasoning from air resistance rather than relying on a powered flying machine. The design was never built or tested during his lifetime. In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nichols constructed and tested a replica, finding that it could descend successfully, although he used a modern parachute for the final landing because the replica was difficult to steer.

The design is often called a parachute, but it was not the first modern parachute. Its pyramid shape distinguishes it from the round canopies widely used later.