11. The cloisters

There are four cloisters, almost all built in the 15th century.
The first is the Chapter Cloister, or of the Magnolia, built in 1435. This cloister connected the places where the most important moments in the life of the friars took place: the Basilica, the Chapter House and the two Refectories, where the Hall of Confessions is located today.
This is followed by the General’s Cloister, made immediately after the Magnolia Cloister, which now houses the papal administration and from which access is gained to the Anthonian Library.
The Cloister of Blessed Luke, the last to be built, in the second half of the 1500s, still has a Gothic layout, although supported by columns in the Renaissance style. Here we find the statue of Lorenzo Quinn, son of the actor Anthony, depicting St. Anthony mediating between the Child Jesus and devotees; while on the southern side there is the entrance to the Anthonian Museums.
Finally, the Novitiate Cloister, which is not open to the public. Its construction dates back to 1472, financed in part by Pope Sixtus IV della Rovere, who had actually undergone his novitiate in Padua.