Dali’s mustache intact at ‘ 10 past 10’ position

Artist Salvador Dali’s trademark mustache is in perfect shape in its “ten past ten” position, the foundation that runs his estate said Friday, a day after his remains were exhumed to settle a paternity claim.

Narcis Bardalet, who was responsible for embalming Dalí’s body 28 years ago was at his grave the moment he was exhumed on Thursday night for DNA tests.

The arduous task of exhumation involved removing a slab weighing more than a ton that covered his tomb at the Dali Theatre- Museum in Figueras in northeastern Spain where the artist was born.

“When I took off the silk handkerchief, I was very emotional. I was eager to see him and I was absolutely stunned. It was like a miracle ... his mustache appeared at 10 past 10 exactly and his hair was intact,” Bardalet told Catalan radio sta- tion RAC1 on Friday morning.

A Madrid court last month granted Pilar Abel a DNA test to determine whether she is Dali’s child, as she claims.

Abel, a 61- year- old who long worked as a psychic in Catalonia, says her mother had a relationship with the artist when she worked in Cadaques, a picturesque Spanish port where the painter lived for years.

If Abel is confirmed as Dali’s only child, she could be entitled to 25 percent of the huge fortune of the painter, according to her lawyer Enrique Blanquez.

But the Dali Foundation’s lawyer has indicated Abel could get a big bill if her claims are proven false.

Dali’s estate is entirely in the hands of the Spanish state. The Foundation says it was worth nearly 400 million euros ($ 460 million) in 2016.