Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun, a multi-barrel weapon with barrels arranged in rows or groups.
The design used a large frame carrying numerous small gun barrels. A rotating or adjustable arrangement could help load one group while another group was aimed or fired. The weapon’s name comes from the visual resemblance between its parallel barrels and the pipes of a musical organ.
Leonardo’s version belongs to the early history of volley guns, which sought to increase the rate of fire by using several barrels. It was not a modern machine gun: each barrel was a separate firearm, and reloading remained a major limitation. The design was also heavy and difficult to maneuver.
The organ gun should not be confused with Leonardo’s separate multi-barrel cannon design, which is commonly represented with three rows of barrels. The organ gun is identified by its organ-like bank of barrels and its attempt to coordinate loading and firing in groups.