This naturalistic and marvelous organ-tree could have been inspired by the descriptions of tree-shaped musical instruments in Byzantium and the eastern world or the singing fountains of Renaissance gardens in Italy. The tree had a particular significance in the context of Santa Maria del Popolo where the memory of Emperor Nero's evil walnut tree was still vivid. The flourishing oak tree also represented spiritual regeneration and the restoration of the church by the pope as part of his Christian "renovatio Romae".