The origins of organ-making in the city of Pistoia can be traced back to the work of some great masters of the 16th and 17th centuries from other Tuscan cities, such as Cesare Romani from Cortona who worked in the Church of the SS. Annunziata, the Basilica of the Madonna dell'Umiltà and the Cathedral, and such as the Lucca families of Ravani and Caciolli (Umberto Pineschi in Gli organi storici della provincia di Pistoia, edited by Keith Sadko, Pisa, Pacini, 1988). Unfortunately, not many traces remain of the work carried out by these craftsmen, partly because many pieces of the ancient instruments were later reused to make new organs.
Organ art in Pistoia made an improvement in quality in the second half of the 17th century, when the Flemish Jesuit Willem Hermans came to the city and built the splendid organ in the church of St. Ignatius, which was taken as a model in later eras.
