Maria Pypelinckx

Maria Pypelinckx (20 March 1538 – 19 October 1608) was a writer from modern-day Belgium, best known today as the mother of the painter Peter Paul Rubens.

Early life Pypelinckx was born in Kuringen, now a part of Hasselt, as the daughter of Hendrik Pypelinckx and Clara Touion.

Little is known of her early life, but she married a lawyer, Jan Rubens, in 1561 in Antwerp who had just resettled there in 1558 after a long trip to Italy. They lived in a house on the Meir. Maria promptly moved to Siegen (about 35 kilometers from Dillenburg) and began to write letters of support to her husband, who thought at the time he might be put to death. She also wrote to various members of the Nassau family, including Anna's brother-in-law Johann VI, Count of Nassau-Dillenburg. She returned to Antwerp the same year. She took a house in the Kloosterstraat and sent young Peter Paul to work as a page for Margaretha de Ligne-Arenberg, widow of Philip de Lalaing (1537–82). He then announced he wanted to become a painter, and with support from her family, Maria sent him as an apprentice to Tobias Verhaecht, a distant relative. In 1600, Peter Paul left on a trip to Italy and his older brother Philip, a lawyer like his father had been, moved in with her.

Death Pypelinckx died in Antwerp on 19 October 1608 after becoming ill. Rubens received news of her illness and rushed home but arrived too late. He never returned to Italy.