What stringed keyboard instrument did Leonardo da Vinci design in the 1480s?

Leonardo da Vinci designed the viola organista, a stringed keyboard instrument, in the 1480s.

The instrument used keys to activate a mechanism that pressed continuously rotating wheels or bows against strings. This arrangement aimed to combine the controllable pitch of a keyboard with the sustained, expressive sound of bowed strings. Leonardo drew several versions in his notebooks, showing his interest in both musical performance and mechanical transmission.

The viola organista was never completed by Leonardo as a practical concert instrument. It is sometimes confused with the organ, because the design has a keyboard, but it does not produce sound by directing air through pipes. It is also distinct from the modern piano, whose hammers strike strings rather than bowing them.

Later builders reconstructed the instrument from Leonardo’s drawings. These modern versions demonstrate that the concept can work, although they are interpretations rather than surviving original Leonardo instruments.