Salvador Dali moustache 'still intact' after exhumation
Famed surrealist artist's body uncovered in ordered to take paternity test
Surrealist Spanish painter Salvador Dali was exhumed for a paternity test last night, and embalmers have revealed that his trademark moustache was still intact.
Dali's lengthy, angular moustache became a symbol of his personal image during his rise to fame, and has stayed "like clock hands pointing at 10 to 10".
Dali was known for his surrealist paintings, perhaps the most celebrated of which is The Persistence of Memory, featuring a number of melting clock faces, which would become a defining feature of much of the painter's work.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Embalmer Narcis Bardalet, who supervised the exhumation, said he had been "delighted" to see the surrealist's trademark facial hair still in place almost 30 years after his death in 1989, says The Guardian.
"His moustache is still intact, [like clock hands at] 10 past 10, just as he liked it. It's a miracle," he told the Catalan radio station RAC1. "His face was covered with a silk handkerchief. When it was removed, I was delighted to see his moustache was intact. I was quite moved. You could also see his hair."
Dali was exhumed in order to carry out a paternity test, after a controversial Spanish court ruled in favour of a woman who claims to be his daughter. Maria Pilar Abel, a 61-year-old Spanish woman, says her mother was a maid in one of Dali's seasonal homes in Port Lligat, and "maintained a clandestine relationship with the artist", writes CNN.
Samples of DNA were taken from Dali's teeth and hair, and results are expected within two weeks.
Abel's claims have been met with scepticism. The Salvador Dali Foundation attempted to appeal the ruling, but were forced to allow the exhumation. And in the words of the artist himself: "Great geniuses produce mediocre children, and I don't want to go through that experience."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Why is recasting so difficult?
In The Spotlight Switching much-loved characters can cause confusion – and spark a backlash
By Irenie Forshaw, The Week UK Published
-
Diamonds could be a brilliant climate solution
Under the radar A girl and the climate's best friend
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Crossword: November 12, 2024
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published