Museo degli Organi Meccanici Antichi "Santa Cecilia"

The Museum of Antique Mechanical Organs in Massa Marittima preserves self-playing instruments, harpsichords and fortepianos from the seventeenth to nineteenth centuries.

Why it matters

Founded around the collection assembled by Lorenzo Ronzoni, the museum documents the design and musical culture of mechanical instruments. The instruments' mechanisms show how music could be produced through pinned barrels and related systems before recorded sound.

What to notice

The collection includes a portable organ dated 1686, positive organs from eighteenth-century workshops, and instruments associated with Naples and Sicily. Harpsichords and fortepianos trace changes in keyboard construction and sound. Together the objects show the range of mechanical and keyboard instrument-making across different regions of Italy.

Context and history

The Fondazione Museo Santa Cecilia was established in 2002, when Ronzoni placed his collection of antique mechanical organs at its disposal. The foundation maintains the instruments and has a restoration laboratory connected with the collection. Its holdings bring together examples of northern, central and southern Italian instrument-making.