Leonardo da Vinci designed an armoured tank-like fighting vehicle with sloped armour and multiple cannons.
The vehicle appears in a drawing from about 1487 to 1490, probably prepared for Ludovico Sforza, the ruler of Milan. Its conical cover was intended to deflect incoming projectiles, while cannons were arranged around the lower edge so they could fire in different directions. The vehicle was to be moved by people turning cranks connected to wheels.
Leonardo’s design was never built as a Renaissance battlefield tank. A commonly repeated claim says that a deliberate error in the gears would have prevented movement, but the drawings may simply be incomplete or ambiguous. In any case, the vehicle lacked an engine and would have been heavy and difficult to operate.
The design is significant as an early concept for an armoured fighting vehicle, not as the direct ancestor of modern tanks. Modern tanks use engines, tracks, turrets, and sophisticated armour, features developed much later in response to industrial warfare.