Leonardo da Vinci designed an organ gun with multiple small cannons.
The organ gun arranged several barrels side by side or in rows so that they could fire in sequence or together. Its name comes from the resemblance between the parallel gun barrels and the pipes of a musical organ. Leonardo’s drawings explored how such an arrangement might increase the volume of fire.
The weapon was a concept for battlefield use, not a modern machine gun. The barrels still required loading, ignition, and reloading, so the design did not provide continuous automatic fire.
Leonardo’s military notebooks contain many studies of artillery, fortifications, and siege equipment. His organ-gun design illustrates his habit of applying mechanical organization to weapons technology.