Leonardo da Vinci proposed an organ gun with 33 small cannons arranged in three rows.
Leonardo’s organ gun was a multi-barrel artillery design. Its 33 barrels were arranged in three groups of 11, giving the weapon a distinctive resemblance to the pipes of a musical organ. The arrangement was intended to allow repeated or concentrated fire while other barrels were being loaded.
The design reflects Leonardo’s work as a military engineer in the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. He sought ways to increase battlefield firepower and reduce the disadvantages of slow muzzle-loading weapons.
An organ gun was not a modern machine gun. Each barrel still required loading and firing, and the weapon’s practical performance would have depended on careful construction and coordination. It is also distinct from Leonardo’s armored vehicle, which used cannons around a circular armored body.