What Leonardo da Vinci invention was a multi-barreled weapon with 33 small cannons?

Leonardo da Vinci’s 33-barrel organ was a multi-barreled weapon arranged in three rows of eleven small cannons.

Leonardo designed the weapon in the fifteenth century as an improvement over conventional field artillery. The barrels were mounted on a broad frame, allowing several shots to be fired in sequence or a concentrated volley to be delivered. Its nickname comes from the visual resemblance between the parallel barrels and the pipes of a musical organ.

The design addressed a practical problem: early cannons could be slow to reload. Multiple barrels could increase the rate of fire, although the weapon would still require substantial preparation, ammunition, and trained crews. It should not be confused with a modern rotary cannon, whose barrels rotate around a central axis.

There is no evidence that Leonardo’s exact design became a standard battlefield weapon. It remains a notable example of his military-engineering studies.