Adjacent to the church is the former Augustinian convent. Built starting in the middle of the thirteenth century, it was characterized by a single cloister surrounded by the chapter house, the dormitory, and the refectory, in accordance with the four-sided pattern typical of Augustinian structures. Despite its modest size, as early as 1300 it must have played a role of primary importance if, at the time, it was the seat of one of the five-year courses of preparation for teaching, know as “Studia Generalia,” for the friars who would go on to teach in the Provinces of the Order. Between 1500 and 1600 the structure was affected by construction work such as the building of the new chapter house after the old one was destined for use as a private chapel by the noble Piccolimini family of Siena, and the construction of a second cloister and another group of buildings around it to hold a dormitory, refectory, and infirmary. In the last years of the seventeenth century the new library was built; the painter Apollonio Nasini was assigned the task of decorating it. In 1798 the complex was damaged by the violent earthquake which shook the city. As a result, a restoration project was implemented under the guidance of the Sienese architect Francesco Paccagnini. As a result of Napoleon’s suppression of convents in 1808, the decision was made to transform the convent buildings into a high . . .