Leonardo da Vinci proposed an organ cannon with 33 small barrels arranged in three rows.
The weapon is often called a 33-barrelled organ or organ gun. Its barrels were mounted on a wheeled frame in three groups of eleven. The arrangement was intended to allow one group to fire while another was being loaded, increasing the rate of fire compared with a single large cannon.
The name comes from the visual resemblance to the pipes of a musical organ, not from any musical function. Leonardo’s design belonged to a broader Renaissance effort to improve artillery through multiple barrels, easier aiming and faster reloading. The weapon remained a concept rather than a securely documented Leonardo-built cannon.
An organ cannon is not the same as a modern machine gun. Its barrels were separate artillery pieces, and the design still depended on manual loading and gunpowder ignition. The proposal illustrates Leonardo’s focus on improving battlefield logistics as well as projectile power.