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Updated at 8.40pm
SURREALIST MASTER SALVADOR Dali’s trademark moustache is in perfect shape in its “ten past ten” position, officials said today, a day after his remains were exhumed to settle a paternity claim.
“I was very anxious about what I would see,” said Narcis Bardalet, the forensic expert who embalmed Dali back in 1989 and who was at his grave the moment he was exhumed on Thursday night for the DNA test.
“I was absolutely stunned. It was like a miracle… his moustache appeared at 10 past 10 and his hair was intact,” Bardalet added during an interview with the public television station TVE1, referring to the positions of the hands on a clock.
The arduous task of exhumation involved removing a slab weighing more than a tonne that covered his tomb at the Dali Theatre-Museum in Figueras in northeastern Spain where the eccentric artist was born.
Bardalet was one of only a handful of people including a judge allowed to watch the removal of samples from Dali’s remains.
“It was a moving moment for him and for us,” Lluis Penuelas Reixach, the secretary general of the Salvador Dali Foundation, told a press conference, in a reference to Bardalet.
DNA samples were taken from Dali’s hair, nail and two long bones, he added.
Paternity test
Forensic investigators exhumed Salvador Dali’s remains from a tomb in his Spanish hometown nearly three decades after his death in order to test a fortune teller’s claims that she is the only daughter of the surrealist.
“The biological specimens have been taken from Salvador Dali’s remains,” Catalonia’s High Court of Justice said in a statement.
The DNA samples will be sent to Madrid to undergo the necessary tests.
A crowd of onlookers gathered outside the elaborate museum of Dali’s work to watch as police escorted the experts into the building which is topped by a huge metallic dome decorated with egg shapes. Dali designed the building himself.
The museum, a top tourist site that drew over 1.1 million visitors last year, was covered in some places with cloth to prevent drones from capturing images.
“A day like this arouses in me a great deal of feeling because it reminds me of the day of his death,” Maria Lorca, who was the mayor of Figueras at the time of Dali’s death in 1989.”
The eccentric artist would have enjoyed the atmosphere outside the museum, Lorca added.
“He would feel at home, it is a day that suits his way of being,” Lorca said.
A huge fortune
Pilar 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.
A Madrid judge last month granted her a DNA test to find out whether her allegations are true.
If Abel is confirmed as Dali’s only child, she could be entitled to 25% of the huge fortune and heritage of one of the most celebrated and prolific painters of the 20th century, the woman’s lawyer Enrique Blanquez said.
Dali’s estate, which includes properties and hundreds of paintings, is entirely in the hands of the Spanish state.
The Salvador Dali Foundation, which manages the estate, says it was worth nearly €400 million at the end of 2016.
The Salvador Dali Foundation is to provide details of the exhumation at a press conference today.
Abel has already provided a saliva sample for comparison and the results are expected within a matter of weeks.
In an interview with AFP last month, just days after a court ordered the exhumation, Abel said her grandmother had told her she was Dali’s daughter when she was seven or eight years old. Her mother admitted it much later.
Abel is from the city of Figueras, like Dali, and she said she would often see him in the streets.
“We wouldn’t say anything, we would just look at each other. But a glance is worth a thousand words,” she said.
‘Known in the village’
A question has always hung over his sexuality, with some claiming he was a closet homosexual who preferred to watch others having sex rather than taking part.
But according to Abel’s lawyer Blanquez, his affair was “known in the village, there are people who have testified before a notary”.
Born on 11 May 1904 in Figueras to a rich family, Dali developed an interest in painting from an early age.
In 1922, he began studying at the Fine Arts Academy in Madrid where he developed his first avant-garde artistic ideas in association with poet Federico Garcia Lorca and the filmmaker Luis Bunuel.
Soon he left for Paris to join the surrealist movement, giving the school his own personal twist and rocketing to fame with works such as The Great Masturbator.
Returning to Catalonia after 12 years, he invited French poet Paul Eluard and his Russian wife Elena Ivanovna Diakonova to Cadaques.
She became his muse – he gave her the pet name Gala – and remained at his side for the rest of her life.
They never had children and she died in 1982, seven years before Dali’s death.
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People have a right to protest peacefully!
When people want to protest peacefully against corrupt politicians, they will be labelled dissident republicans!!
Can we not just be called pissed off citizens… It’s the truth…
Of course people have a right to protest peacefully, and the Gardaí will let them do exactly that, all they’re doing is preparing for the worst. They’re not gonna be harassing anyone for the Craic.
And Gardaí have a right to defend themselves and uphold the peace against militant troublemakers and “up the RA” types
*that protests like this inevitably attract
Does that include a lady who is protesting peacefully? One was manhandled by a Garda, causing her to have an asthma attack at roughly 1.25pm. Or would she be included in the category of ‘militant troublemakers and Up The ‘Ra types’?
Johnny – yet another brain dead idiot. The police have no intention of letting people protest peacefully. You express yourself with all the eloquence of a buffoon who has never once stood with the people to demand fairness. While we were out there you were riding the tintertubes playing with yourself. 2,000 police officers presenting themselves against 100 protesters on Budget Day sends a clear message that they did not want us there. I hope that kid in your photo gets all the hardship of austerity you have brought upon its poor little head. You should be kissing our arses for what we are doing for you.
Garda bashing day and a bit of crack for a certain amount of trouble makers that never worked a day in there lives ! Don’t forget your iphones lads :)
Yes Garda bashing ok , except they will be doing the bashing , and a small minority of trouble makers true , but tarring them all with the same brush , sounds like your saying they dont have a right to protest .
Contrary to your belief, not everyone who’s attending today is out to start trouble. I’ve worked outside of the home, I’m now a stay at home mum. I know of several people in the same position as I am who are attending.
How’s the view on that high horse?
What a momentous day this promises to be…. Hopefully a riot & the king of kings Factory John Gilligan a free man, remember the day people
Sorry I can’t be there today finglas hero, I have to work. But hey…. I’m happy to know the extraordinary amount of taxes Myself and my inbred crunchy colleagues pay go towards your dole, rent allowance, free legal aid, medical card etc etc……
Sorry to inform you but not everybody off on a tuesday is on the dole ever hear of shift work which a lot of the country do. Lets hope the recession never hits wherever you work and you dont have to lower yourself to receive the dole .
Your comment in highly ignorant. Most people on the dole do not want to be in that situation. I worked for 13 years paying taxes and when I lost my job I spent 18 months applying for a new one with not even 1 interview. I had no choice but to join the dole queue. I’m am telling you here and now it is no picnic. I live with my widowed mother and between us we are forking out all the bills including the property tax and a huge loan my father left her with. She doesn’t qualify for a lot of support as she is not over 65. I am on the Back to Education Allowance. I am trying to do something about my situation. I hate that most days I have only 1 meal as I can’t even afford to buy shopping most of the time. Not everyone wants to live like this it’s extremely hard. I think you should attempt to live on €188 per week before you sit there passing judgement on those less fortunate than you.
Kellyanne. No section of our society is untouched by recession and austerity. I have worked shifts myself. My comment was a specific reply to finglas hero and not to decent people who want to work but are victims of circumstance. I defend your right to peaceful protest.
Sorry just seen his comment there took yeah up wrong
Melweiser. You are a very different animal to the finglas hero against whom my comment was directed. It’s good people like yourself who are the real heroes to keep going in the face of such adversity. Tragically I fear your voices will be lost in protests hijacked by our never work a day in life feral underclass. I don’t underestimate the difficulties you face in life but all I can offer you is my admiration, respect and sincere wish that life will change for the better.
Coola bula kel…. Coola bula!
Dead Right Matt. Let’s hope there is a stronger response from the Gardai today. So dissappointed to see the Gardai displaying restraint in the face of violent provocation a few weeks ago. In my day ” Mr. Hickory Stick ” would have been introduced at an appropriate stage ( i.e. immediately ) and the situation would have been sorted.
“God I hate retirement so much at times like this “
All day breakfast batons and brown sauce spray at the ready!!
Generally, it’s a good idea to know what one is protesting about. Should you not wait until tomorrow? At least that way, you would have heard the budget (or read the headline bits in the Sun/Socialist Worker Weekly) and could make some snappy placards …
You could run for Taoiseach very insightful comment “protest when you know what you are protesting about.. ” Good One I like that.
Dusty – you look like such a lovely little dog. You make it quite clear what side you are on. So shall I. I am not on your side, and when the cookie crumbles – all you little pampered dogs and bitches will feel the power of our rage. You might not read that in the Indo.
It could be deliciously ironic if a Garda pay cut is on the cards …
They might well get yet another pay cut, certainly Shatter isn’t in any way loyal to the Gardaí. But, like the nurses, they will still continue to do their job. That’s the loyalty they have to the State, as in the people.
Everyone has a right to peaceful protest, but everyone also has a right to go about their business unimpeded – protestors blocking roads, forcing the gates of the Dáil and other undemocratic and violent acts has no place in society.
And that’s what the majority of the people who are attending today want; a peaceful protest that gets our point across. Why should we continue to pay for the sins of the bankers and politicians? The problem with this country is that it has a case big untreated dose of “Ah, shure it’ll be grand-itis”. Only it isn’t and it won’t be if the majority don’t stand up for themselves. As a nation, we’re great at bolting the stable door after the horse has done a runner.
The problem is that protestors are very rarely protesting for anything concrete – just against something. If someone took the time to come up with a workable alternative then it would lend greater support to the cause. As it is, it’s just another “let’s give out about stuff in general” gathering.
Then lobby your local TDs at the constituency clinics regularly. State your concerns personally to them. Do that in numbers if you must, but speak to them that way, not anonymously in some unruly protest that has been hijacked by Sinn Fein (all flavours of) and SWP. Civil disobedience such as what happened last month only serves to polarize society, removing the option of joining protest rallies from the vast majority of peaceful, suffering, citizens. I would protest, but not if it is used by others as an excuse to assault the equally suffering Gardaí who are doing their sworn duty. That serves on purpose and it certainly doesn’t have an impact on the decisions of Government.
My revenge will be in the local, European and General Elections.
And my revenge will be sweet, and lasting.
And who do you suggest we vote for? Fine Gael? Fianna Fail? I know, let’s vote for Labour! The problem with that theory, is that it’s basically same s*it, different name. A government is there to work in the best interests of its people, not for their own. Shame no-one told the Dail that…..
Yeah those violent acts of blocking the Dail gates will certainly impede 99% of usin the rest of the country.Only thing it will upset is the Zombies and sheeple being delayed in getting home to watch fair city and corrie.
What?!! Protests! How dare they! Just make sure that you don’t inconvenience any of the hard pressed sheepies.
Protest! What protest.?………the irish public are a crowd of yellow whimps when it comes to standing up for themselves ….they retain no self respect and are more worried about what other countries might think of them…well let me tell you, the others could,nt give a sh1t
Here’s a wee Budget video edit
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_LEj_jcKPU8&feature=youtu.be
Some good news, very patronising there now, and there’ll be an extra tax, one for everyone in the audience!
free my country from tyranny and treason and austerity ……… i want my country back
Instead of protesting and wasting everyone’s time (including their own because the govenment is going to go ahead with it anyway, regardless of what these people say) as well as Garda resources, why don’t these people actually offer a constructive alternative to what the government intends to do? Because they are not just going there to protest, they do actually have an alternative don’t they?
I hope these people are not ignorant enough to go there, do their little protest and not have an explaination as to how they would do things differently.
Ah Harry’s up early, did you pack your lunch. It’s a long bus journey from Meath. Don’t forget the hang sandwiches. Yahoo….
Extra Garda to pick up the scones & tea bags for the station!
Politicans running scared now? Soon it wont be egypt or iraq on news overturning the government. It’ll be ireland the way things going. Bringing in extra garda will only inflame the situation that probably wouldn’t be there if the garda weren’t there.
That’ll be the day!
in about another 500 years give or take,maybe.
Nice bita o/t for them today so. What’s the overtime rate for Garda does anyone know ?
10 tea bags an hour
.
I’m guessing that today will be a Haddington road day, ie one of the days Gardai work and don’t get paid. A parliamentary question will answer your question though for sure.
Well that’s disincentive for the Garda to be proactive today so… :/ thx Paul
Fair play to the journal for whipping this up nicely, making it look like the Gardai will be justified in using excessive force once again on peaceful protesters…
As long as it’s peaceful (unlike last time), the Gardai won’t use excessive force. Contrary to the belief of some, the Gardai don’t tend to have any particular wish to cause a riot from bringing out the pepper spray for the craic. Doesn’t do anyone any good if it can be avoided.
But they also have a line to hold, and themselves to protect. Breach the line, or threaten the Guard, then don’t come on here moaning about being peppersprayed. It’s simple really.
As I mentioned above, the protest I was at was peaceful. At least it was until a garda manhandled two women, one of whom suffered an asthma attack as a result. And this woman was not causing any trouble at all, just exercising her right to protest.
Just saw about 30 of them heading around College Green
Yeah, there were minibuses full of them outside Pearse St. Garda station this morning. I was wondering what they were doing.
A country minibus filled with Gardai is an unexpectedly comical sight.
Harry is out of bed . Hello Harry any bricks for sale today me auld flower ?????
Why should the Government require the protection of the police force from the public that elected them?
Dissident republicans love dissent.
Dissident loyalists love other nation’s flegs!!!
town is rotten with gordee this morning, the pearse street car park has been cleared out to make way for maria vans.
The Garda should grow some balls and refuse to work there gonna get bent over in this budget like everyone else , let all the protesters run riot all they want
have your say