Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun with multiple barrels arranged in a fan shape.
The weapon, often called a 33-barrel organ, used rows of small gun barrels mounted on a frame. The barrels could be loaded together and fired in sequence or as a group, depending on the proposed mechanism. Leonardo’s design aimed to increase the speed and spread of fire compared with a single muzzle-loading cannon.
The name comes from the resemblance between its clustered barrels and the pipes of a musical organ. It was not a true machine gun in the modern sense, because it lacked modern ammunition, automatic loading, and continuous self-powered firing. Like other Renaissance gunpowder weapons, it would have required substantial preparation between attacks.
Leonardo’s military sketches often combine practical battlefield needs with experimental engineering. The organ gun shows his interest in concentrating many individual weapons into one mobile platform. Surviving drawings reveal the concept, but they do not establish that Leonardo successfully built or used a working example.