Leonardo da Vinci’s viola organista combined a keyboard with which type of instrument?

Leonardo da Vinci’s viola organista combined a keyboard with a string instrument.

The viola organista was a keyboard-controlled instrument Leonardo designed in the late 15th century. Pressing keys would cause rotating wheels or bows to rub against strings, producing sustained tones. In concept, it joined the control system of a keyboard instrument with the sound-producing principle of bowed strings.

Leonardo never completed a surviving original viola organista. Several modern builders have created instruments based on his drawings, and these reconstructions demonstrate how the mechanism could work. The design is therefore best understood as an ambitious proposal rather than a standard Renaissance instrument that entered widespread use.

The name can cause confusion because it resembles “viola,” but the design was not simply an ordinary viola played by a keyboard. It was also not an organ: unlike an organ, it did not rely on pipes and airflow to produce its sound.