What type of cannon did Leonardo da Vinci sketch with several barrels arranged to fire in sequence?

Leonardo da Vinci sketched a multi-barrel cannon with several barrels arranged to fire in sequence.

The design is commonly associated with Leonardo’s military-engineering studies. Multiple small barrels were arranged on a frame so that some could be loaded while others were firing or cooling. The arrangement aimed to increase the weapon’s rate of fire compared with a single muzzle-loading cannon.

This concept was not the same as a modern machine gun. Renaissance cannon required manual loading, powder, wadding, and projectiles for each shot. The proposed arrangement could provide repeated volleys, but it could not deliver the continuous automatic fire of later firearms.

Leonardo’s military notebooks contain many studies of artillery, fortifications, and battlefield machines. Some drawings are practical proposals; others explore possibilities without evidence of construction. The multi-barrel idea illustrates his interest in solving the slow-reloading problem, but surviving evidence does not show that this particular weapon was manufactured or used in war.