# The surreal journey of Salvador Dalí’s legs in a cardboard box: A window into the DNA of human creativity

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-surreal-journey-of-salvador-dalis-legs-in-a-cardboard-box-a-window-into-the-dna-of-human-creativity/
- Published: 2026-11-06T11:48:47+00:00
- Updated: 2026-11-06T12:40:26+00:00
- Original publisher: El País (publisher lean: Left)
- Original article: https://english.elpais.com/science-tech/2026-11-06/the-surreal-journey-of-salvador-dalis-legs-in-a-cardboard-box-a-window-into-the-dna-of-human-creativity.html
- Topics: Entertainment, Music, World

## Key points

- Dalí’s DNA was collected during a 2017 court-ordered exhumation.
- The test found he was not Pilar Abel’s biological father.
- A geneticist wants to sequence Dalí’s genome to study creativity.

## Summary

A geneticist is urging the Salvador Dalí Foundation to reconsider sequencing the artist’s genome, hoping it might offer clues about the biology of creativity. The proposal grew out of a 2017 court-ordered exhumation, which established that Dalí was not the biological father of Pilar Abel, who had claimed to be his daughter.

The samples travelled 435 miles from Dalí’s tomb in Figueres to a laboratory near Madrid and included part of his right leg, three teeth, four fingernails and a lock of hair. Geneticist Antonio Alonso proposed sequencing the genome shortly after the exhumation, but the Foundation rejected the idea and still has reservations. Dalí had a longstanding fascination with DNA, which he linked to genius and resurrection in his art and public remarks.

---
Summarised by TalkFuse (https://talkfuse.com/). Quote the original publisher for the reporting and link this page for the summary and discussion.