Salvador Dalí's Mustache Intact 28 Years After His Death

Forensics who exhumed Spanish artist Salvador Dali's body on Thursday for DNA to use in a paternity test claimed the artist's mustache was still intact to his preference, according to reports.

Dali, a prominent 20th-century surrealist, was known for his iconic, flamboyant mustache.

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"His mustache is still intact, [like clock hands at] 10 past 10, just as he liked it. It’s a miracle." Narcis Bardalet, the embalmer who arranged Dalí’s body after his death in 1989 and helped with the exhumation, said to the Catalan radio station RAC1 Thursday.

Bardalet described the moment he removed the silk handkerchief covering Dali's face.

"When it was removed, I was delighted to see his mustache intact," he said. "I was quite moved. You could also see his hair."

Dali’s body was exhumed from a crypt beneath the museum in his Figueres, Catalonia, home. He was buried in his birthplace after death from heart failure at age 84. Forensic experts dug up his body to settle a years-old paternity claim from a 61-year-old woman who claims she is his daughter. Maria Pilar Abel told the Spanish newspaper El País that it was common knowledge her mother had an affair with Dali in 1955.

DNA was removed from Dali's teeth, bones and nails for the paternity test. The exhumation took place Thursday night with no media allowed entry and tarps placed on top of the building to ward drones off from potentially spying overhead. Only 15 people were allowed and all phones and cameras were banned.

Marta Felip, the mayor of Figueres, described Abel's claims as "grotesque." If the DNA corroborates Abel's claim that she is Dali's daughter, she would be eligible to a quarter of Dali's fortune. She brought her claims against the Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation, which has controlled Dali's estate since his death. The foundation has made attempts to deny her requests for exhumation.

However, if the DNA reveals Abel is not Dali’s daughter, the foundation and the government of Figureres would seek financial compensation for the cost of exhumation.

The samples were sent to a laboratory in Madrid for analysis and a paternity test is scheduled for completion in September.

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When asked about the impending results of the paternity test, Abel told the Spanish news agency Europa Press that she was "not nervous, but happy and positive." She also said she was anticipating "the truth being known once and for all."

Abel's claims have shocked many, including one of Dali’s biographers, Ian Gibson, reported BBC.

"Dali always boasted: 'I'm impotent,'" Gibson said. He added that Dali believed that impotence was important to be a great painter.