What was Leonardo da Vinci’s bowed keyboard instrument called?

Leonardo da Vinci’s bowed keyboard instrument was called the viola organista.

Leonardo designed the instrument in the late fifteenth century. It combined a keyboard with rotating wheels or bowing elements that rubbed against strings, producing sustained tones when keys were pressed. The concept attempted to unite the expressive, continuous sound of bowed instruments with the convenience of a keyboard.

Unlike a standard piano, the viola organista did not strike strings with hammers. It also was not simply an organ, because its sound came from vibrating strings rather than air passing through stationary pipes. Leonardo made several drawings of related mechanisms, but no original instrument by him is known to have survived.

Modern builders have produced working reconstructions based on the drawings. The instrument is therefore best understood as an innovative Renaissance design rather than a successful mass-produced invention. Its name refers to the hybrid character of the proposed instrument.