Background
When she took the veil in 1616 Virginia chose her religious name, Maria Celeste, in honor of the Virgin Mary, and her father"s love of astronomy.
When she took the veil in 1616 Virginia chose her religious name, Maria Celeste, in honor of the Virgin Mary, and her father"s love of astronomy.
All three were born out of wedlock, and the two daughters were considered unworthy for marriage. Troubled by monetary problems, Galileo placed them in the San Matteo convent shortly after Virginia"s thirteenth birthday. Maria Celeste served as San Matteo"s apothecary (herself being of frail health).
She sent her father herbal treatments for his various maladies while additionally seeing to the convent"s finances and sometimes staging plays inside the convent"s walls.
There is evidence she prepared the manuscripts for some of Galileo"s books Maria Celeste frequently asked her father for help, and kept the convent afloat through his influence.
Galileo helped repair windows and made sure the convent clock was in order. The Inquisition tried Galileo for being vehemently suspected of heresy in 1633.
He was forced to recant his view that the Earth was not the center of the universe, and he was sentenced to house arrest for the remainder of his life.
Soon after Galileo returned to Arcetri in disgrace, Maria Celeste contracted dysentery. She died on April 2, 1634, aged 33. Galileo described Maria Celeste as "a woman of exquisite mind, singular goodness, and most tenderly attached to me".
Maria Celeste appears as a character in the play Life of Galileo, by Bertold Brecht and Margarete Steffin.
The play does not give an accurate portrayal of her life as it depicts her becoming engaged, rather than as a nun. The International Astronomical Union has named the impact crater Maria Celeste on the planet Venus after her.