Great expectation over exhumation of Salvador Dalí’s remains

The exhumation of Salvador Dalí’s body to extract DNA samples in order to resolve a paternity suit will start on Thursday at 8pm. A Madrid court ordered the exhumation of the artist’s remains after Pilar Abel filed a suit claiming she is the biological daughter of the painter.

The court accepted the request by the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dalí, which represents the Dalí estate, to move the exhumation initially set for the morning to the evening, so as to avoid any interference in the museum’s functioning. In July, the museum receives about 4,000 visitors a day.

After the Figueres Town Council warned of technical problems getting into the crypt where the remains of the painter rest, the foundation organized a special device to help the court team gain access. There is no information on how long the intervention will take.

Originally, the court ordered the exhumation of Dalí’s body to take place on July 20, at 9.30am. However, the Foundation Gala-Salvador Dalí appealed the decision and demanded a halt to the whole procedure. While the appeal was overturned, the court admitted the foundation’s request to conduct the exhumation after the Theater-Museum had closed.

The Foundation has planned a news conference on Friday to give an assessment of the intervention and to discuss its next steps. Once the samples have been taken, the painter’s DNA will be compared to that of Pilar Abel and that of her mother to determine whether Dalí is indeed the Figueres resident’s biological father. Abel and her mother already gave DNA samples at the Institute of Toxicology in Madrid.

Born in 1956, Abel maintains that her mother and the painter had a secret relationship when her mother was working as a home assistant in Cadaqués for some friends of the Dalí family.