Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun as a multi-barrel weapon that could fire in sequence.
The organ gun used several small cannon barrels arranged side by side or in a compact formation. The arrangement resembled the pipes of a musical organ, which explains the weapon’s name. Leonardo’s military sketches explored ways to fire multiple shots quickly and then reposition the weapon more efficiently than a single heavy cannon.
An organ gun was not a machine gun in the modern sense. The barrels still had to be loaded and ignited, and the weapon’s effectiveness depended on the crew, ammunition, and construction. Multiple barrels could increase the volume of fire, but they also made the device heavy and difficult to manage.
Leonardo’s design belongs to the wider Renaissance search for faster-loading artillery. Other multi-barrel weapons existed in Europe, so the concept should not be treated as an invention created entirely from nothing. His drawings are valuable for showing how he applied organization and mechanics to battlefield firepower.