Leonardo da Vinci’s keyboard-controlled bowed-string instrument was the viola organista.
Leonardo drew several versions of the instrument during the late 15th and early 16th centuries. A keyboard would control strings while rotating wheels or bows rubbed them, combining the expressive principle of a bowed instrument with the layout of a keyboard. The result was intended to produce sustained tones without requiring a separate bowing hand.
No surviving instrument from Leonardo’s workshop is known. The name “viola organista” is a modern label applied to the family of designs associated with his sketches, rather than a name securely recorded by Leonardo himself.
The invention is sometimes mistaken for a piano because both use keyboards. A piano produces sound by hammers striking strings, whereas Leonardo’s concept uses friction from moving bows or wheels. Modern builders have created playable reconstructions based on the drawings.