Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun, a many-barreled cannon array.
His drawing shows multiple small cannons arranged in parallel rows on a wheeled frame. The arrangement resembled the pipes of a musical organ, which explains the weapon’s name. The design was intended to fire a broad volley of projectiles and then be repositioned or reloaded.
Leonardo’s military sketches were created in the context of Renaissance warfare, when artillery was developing rapidly. A multi-barrel arrangement could increase the number of shots delivered in a short period, though it also created difficulties involving loading, aiming, recoil, and coordination.
The organ gun is sometimes incorrectly described as a machine gun. It had no automatic loading or continuous firing system. It was a manually operated artillery concept, closer to a volley weapon than to a modern firearm. Leonardo’s drawing records an idea, not a proven weapon used in battle.