Leonardo da Vinci’s viola organista combined a keyboard with the viol family of stringed instruments.
The viola organista was a keyboard instrument Leonardo designed in the late 15th or early 16th century. Pressing keys caused rotating, rosined wheels or bows to touch strings, producing sustained sounds. Its design sought to combine the controllable pitch of a keyboard with the continuous tone of bowed strings.
Leonardo left several drawings of related mechanisms, but he did not produce a surviving original instrument. Modern builders have constructed versions from his sketches, showing that the basic idea can work, although the exact historical design remains uncertain.
The name can cause confusion because the instrument is not simply a conventional viola played by keys. Its strings and bowing mechanism are closer to the viola da gamba or viol family, while its interface resembles an organ or piano keyboard. It is therefore a hybrid rather than a standard member of one instrument category.