Legendary Artist’s Unique Mustache Still Intact 28 Years After He’s Gone

Human hair decomposes slower than softer tissues. Like fingernails, hair is made of keratin and is considerably more durable than skin and flesh. Typically, human hair can endure up to 2 years after a person’s death. However, if the body is artificially preserved, it can last for decades, just like world-renowned artist Salvador Dali’s wacky facial hair.

Salvador Dali is a prominent Spanish surrealist best known for the striking and bizarre images in his surrealist works. His repertoire also extended to film, sculpture, photography, literature and others. He died of heart failure in 1989 at the age of 84.

Dali’s remains were buried in the crypt below the stage of his Theatre and Museum in Figueres.

Just last month, the court ordered the exhumation of the artist’s body for a paternity suit and what they discovered left them in awe.

The artist’s infamous mustache, which mimics the ’10 past 10′ position of a clock, is still intact.

According to forensic experts, Dali’s face was covered by a ‘magnificent’ silk handkerchief. Metro reported Narcís Bardalet, the man who helped preserved the legendary artist’s body after his death expressed his delight to see the painter’s unique feature again.

Bardalet said:

“His moustache is still intact, [like clock hands at] 10 past 10, just as he liked it. It’s a miracle. His face was covered with a silk handkerchief – a magnificent 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’s body has been mummified and his body was so hard that electric saw was used to collect his bone samples.

Bardalet added Dali’s moustache will continue to exist for a long time.

“The moustache is still there and will be for centuries.”

Salvador Dali’s remains was unearthed for paternity claims. Maria Pilar Abel Martínez, born in 1956, claimed her mother had an affair with Dali on 1955. The court ordered a DNA test and if Martínez is proved to the artist’s illegitimate daughter, she can lay claim to part of his riches. Dali and his wife, Gala, did not left any heirs and their estate were managed by the Spanish State and the Gala Dali Foundation.