First documentation of the church or oratory at the site, dates to 833, when the property was outside the city walls. Towards the 12th century the church was rebuilt and affiliated with a Vallombrosan
Benedictine order monastery. It then became a convent for nuns. The Abbess Giovanna Sanvitale commissioned the choir from
Marco Antonio Zucchi in 1512. The sacristy corridor, a fragment of a capital and a stone door with
Romanesque architecture decorations date to this period. During the 16th century, further reconstructions inverted the original orientation. The convent was deconsecrated in the early 18th century, and became private apartments. The church was utilized by the parish. Above the entranceway there is an 18th-century painting with
St John of God.
Pier Antonio Bernabei painted a
St Paul in the sacristy. Many of the fine artworks once in the church, including altarpieces by
Giovanni Lanfranco, a
Saints Benedict and Quentin; and
Giuseppe Ribera, an
Assumption of the Virgin; and by
Francesco Marmitta, a
Saint Benedict and Quentin and Virgin: all were looted by French troops during the Revolutionary wars. The baptismal chapel has a canvas depicting the
Baptism of Christ (2015) painted by
Giovanna Scapinelli. In the chapel dedicated to the Blessed Orsolina (died early 14th century) has altarpiece depicting
Orsolina talking to the Pope Clement VII at Avignon painted by Benigno Bossi. In 1887 the ceiling of this chapel was frescoed. On the walls are two canvases with episodes in the life of the blessed Orsolina by
Cecrope Barilli. ==References==