Forensic experts in Spain have exhumed the body of the surrealist painter Salvador Dalí to extract DNA to settle a paternity case, BBC reports.
Samples were taken from the artist’s teeth, bones and nails in a four-hour operation, officials said.
The exhumation followed a court order on behalf of María Pilar Abel Martínez, a tarot card reader, who says her mother had an affair with the painter.
If she is proved right, she could assume part of the Dalí’s estate, currently owned by the Spanish state.
It may take weeks before the results of the tests are known.
The surrealist painter, who died in 1989 at the age of 85, was buried in a crypt in a museum dedicated to his life and work in Figueres, in north-eastern Spain.
A crowd gathered outside the museum to watch as police escorted the experts into the building on Thursday evening.
The exhumation went ahead despite the objections of the local authorities and the foundation carrying Dalí’s name, both of which claimed that not enough notice had been given ahead of the exhumation.
