Paschaly Caetanus Oldovini

Paschaly Caetanus Oldovini was an Italian-born organ builder who worked in Portugal between 1758 and 1777, according to the years in which he is documented. An inscription on the instrument he built for Évora Cathedral in 1758 confirms his Italian origin, which places him among the foreign craftsmen who worked on the Iberian Peninsula during the eighteenth century.

His activity was concentrated mainly in the south of the country. In Évora he spent several years on commissions for the cathedral, where he restored the Renaissance organ built by Heitor Lobo and constructed two new instruments, one of them a small positive organ dating from around 1760. He later built an organ for the parish church of Crato, dated 1769, and another, grander instrument, similar in design to the one at Évora, which was installed in Elvas Cathedral in 1777.

In Faro Cathedral there is solid, though not conclusive, evidence that he repaired the historic organ and perhaps added its unusual Brustwerk. Another small organ by him also survives there, and the instrument in the chapel of the Senhor dos Passos, in the Matriz of Viana do Castelo, is almost certainly attributed to his hand.

His work blends Portuguese and Italian traditions with a high standard of craftsmanship, and it was scarcely influenced by the Baroque style dominant in his time, which makes it valuable for understanding Portuguese organ building of the period.