A portrait of a young nun in the black headdress and grey habit of the Order of the Poor Clares. It is traditionally identified as a portrait of Virginia (1600–1634), natural daughter of the mathematician and experimental philosopher Galileo Galilei and Marina Gamba. In 1613/1614 Virginia entered the convent of San Matteo d'Arcetri near Florence: the convent was under the Rule of Saint Clare in the Order of Saint Francis. She took her vows and adopted the monastic name of Maria Celeste. Her importance for her father, even while she was in the convent and he was at odds with the Vatican, is described at length in a number of books, of which the most recent is 'Dava Sobel's Galileo's Daughter' (1999). As there is no other portrait of Maria Celeste, we cannot be sure that this painting accurately reflects her appearance, but its existence certainly testifies to people's fascination with her story since the publication in 1870 of 'The Private Life of Galileo' by Mary Allen-Olney.