Which Leonardo da Vinci invention is often described as a pyramid-shaped parachute?

Leonardo da Vinci’s pyramid-shaped parachute is one of his best-known flight inventions.

Leonardo drew the parachute in the Codex Atlanticus around 1485. His design used a sealed pyramid-shaped canopy made from linen, with a height and base width of about 7 metres. He proposed that a person could descend safely from a great height while suspended beneath the canopy.

The sketch is important because it shows Leonardo reasoning about air resistance and controlled descent centuries before practical parachutes became common. It was not a modern parachute: the rigid pyramid would have been heavy, and the design lacked many features later parachutists needed for stability and deployment.

In 2000, British skydiver Adrian Nicholas tested a carefully constructed version of Leonardo’s design. It reportedly descended successfully, although Nicholas used a modern parachute for the final landing because the historical replica was difficult to steer and land safely. Leonardo’s drawing therefore represents an early parachute concept, not a proven working device from the Renaissance.