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Salvador Dalí's Mustache Stunned Forensic Experts

The surrealist painter has become the center of a paternity dispute that could make history and move millions of dollars.
Posted at 4:42 PM, Jul 23, 2017

Spanish painter Salvador Dalí is known for both his surrealist artwork and his gravity-defying facial hair. And apparently, his mustache is still in pristine condition — even though he died in 1989.

Dalí's body was recently exhumed at the Dalí Theatre and Museum in Spain. That's thanks to a court ruling in a paternity suit filed by a woman who says she's Dalí's daughter.

Dalí never fathered any children that we know of. He had a rather unique relationship with his wife, Gala: She stayed in a castle in Catalonia, and Dalí could only visit if she sent him a written invitation. 

Museum officials heavily criticized the order to exhume Dalí's body. They say there's little evidence the 61-year-old woman is his daughter, and that DNA tests should have been conducted on the woman's living relatives first.

Forensics experts took hair, teeth, nail and bone samples for the DNA test. If it turns out Dalí did father the woman, she would be entitled to part of his estate.

The painter's fortune was valued in the hundreds of millions at the time of his death. But with no recognized heir, he willed his riches to Spain.