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Secondary sourcePainting

An Altar Organ Blown by a Windmill

Edward Francis Rimbault

A diagram reproducing Hero's design for an altar organ powered by a windmill, the earliest known machine driven by wind power.

Reproduces Hero's own design for a wind-powered organ, showing his inventive range as an engineer.

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Black and white line drawing of an altar-style organ shown beside a small windmill with four lattice-covered sails on a tall column. Pipes stand inside a classical temple-like facade with columns and a pediment, and a pipe runs from the windmill to a cylindrical bellows.
After Hero of Alexandria, design for an altar organ blown by a windmill, reproduced in Edward Francis Rimbault's The Early English Organ Builders and their Work.

About this source

What it is

This drawing reproduces a design by Hero of Alexandria for an altar organ blown by the action of a windmill, included in Edward Francis Rimbault's book on early English organ builders. The image shows a windmill connected by a pipe to an organ housed in a temple-like structure.

Why it matters

This device is recorded as the earliest documented machine powered by wind. It shows Hero's remarkable range as an engineer, combining mechanics, pneumatics and music, and his lasting influence on later writers studying the history of instruments and machines.

Look closer

  • What does combining a windmill with an organ tell us about Hero's approach to engineering?
  • Why might this design be important to historians of both music and technology?
  • What parts of the original design might be missing or simplified in this later drawing?

This painting is part of the curated material that grounds the AI version of Hero of Alexandria on Humy.ai — when students ask about related events, the AI can quote it and cite it.

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Illuminated manuscript page with colored design drawing of a large siege engine or cannon in red, blue, green and tan, with a vertical arrow-like beam at top, surrounded by Greek text in brown ink on parchment.Document

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Belopoiika (design drawing of a siege engine)

Hero of Alexandria · 1st century AD (this copy later)

Title page of a 1589 Italian book, engraved in black and white with an ornate architectural border of columns, scrolls and a central medallion. Printed text reads Di Herone Alessandrino De gli automati, ouero Machine se moventi, libri due, tradotti dal greco da Bernardino Baldi, with a small shield reading In Venetia, appresso Girolamo Porro, 1589.Book

Secondary source

De gli automati, ouero Machine se mouenti

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