The convent became the property of the state by the decree of 2nd November 1789 and was ultimately disused and dissolved as from 1790 after the abolition of monastic orders. The south buildings were rented out and the large refectory sold to a certain, Verdier, who used it as stables and fodder storage. The Muséum provisoire du Midi de la République, founded on 19th December 1793 by the regional council, was originally destined for the Cordeliers, but was finally established in the Augustins, where it solemnly opened its doors on 27th August 1795. It is one of the oldest museums in France after the Muséum central de Paris (10th August 1793). In 1794, Jean Briant - the museum's first curator - found himself supervising hastily assembled collections, pillaged during vast plunders in churches and even in houses of emigrés in the surrounding regions. After eighteen months of conversion work, the engineer Courtalon, wrote in his report dated 25th December 1794, that the building seemed ideal but that he required more architectural regularity by closing off all the northern chapels. Hence, they were sealed off and left abandon in 1795. In approximately 1804, the museum and the art school took over the east wing of the small renaissance cloister and the books from the library were stored on the first floor. From this time on, the mania for museum conversion work in the 19th Century resulted in the serious deterioration of the Augustins convent. During the occupation of the premises by the art school (which had originally been installed in annexes of the city hall), parts of the building were successively destroyed between 1805 and 1828. This was most certainly due to trends in town planning. All the chantry chapels on the east side were eradicated, except for the Saint-Gabriel chapel, and transformed into latrines for the art school.