Salvador Dalí’s Body Exhumed, Iconic Mustache and All

Salvador Dalí is making a guest appearance in this week’s literal telenovela. Last month, a Spanish judge ordered Dalí’s body to be exhumed for a paternity suit filed by television psychic Pilar Abel, who claims to be Dalí’s daughter and has been fighting for a paternity test since 2007.

However, the scientist who exhumed the artist’s body was more interested in how his iconic mustache faired. Dalí’s undertaker Narcís Bardalet called it “a miracle,” according to The Guardian. “His mustache is still intact, [like clock hands at] 10 past 10, just as he liked it. I was quite moved. You could also see his hair.” Bardalet confirmed the rest of Dalí’s body, which has been underground since 1989, resembled that of a mummy.

In a fittingly surreal end to 10 years of fighting between Abel and the Gala-Salvador Dalí Foundation that controls the artist’s estate, the artist’s body was as hard as wood and required an electric saw rather than a scalpel to collect bone samples. Abel claims her physical resemblance to the painter is so strong, “The only thing I’m missing is the moustache.” Perhaps she can borrow that in addition to the quarter of his estate Abel will be heir to, if proven related.

The results of the testing are expected to be shared in the next month of two.