ABSTRACT
The organist in the Lateran church on 14 January was indeed Handel. The literature on Handel has overlooked that the archpriest of San Giovanni in Laterano was Cardinal Pamphilj himself, for more than 30 years, until his death. Handel thus, if identical with the famous "Saxon" at the Lateran organ, may have been patronized by Pamphilj. The most important is, of course, the description of how, after an amusing encounter of the two in the company of Vatican musicians, on the following day Handel played organs in the Lateran, whereby there was "an extraordinary assembly, particularly of cardinals, prelates, and nobility". Thus this moment can henceforth enter Handel's biography as one of the first appearances of the young genius in the eternal city. That the Roman high society crowded into San Giovanni is reported also by Valesio, though very briefly.
