King Henri IV’s mummified head was authentified, approximately a year ago, after over 3 years of forensic and historical research. While there was no usable nucleus DNA left in the mummified head, its mitochondrial DNA was finally matched to king Louis XIV and king Louis XVI (beheaded on January 21st, 1793). The bone structure of the head was matched by forensic scientists to the many portraits of Henri IV and to an early replica of his death mask (it was customary to mold the king’s face with fine plaster just after he was declared dead, and many copies of this mold were dispatched to the various provinces of the kingdom). An independant facial reconstruction by a forensic anthropologist confimed this. While the French Revolution seeked to destroy these kingly relics, and desecrated the kings’ tombs in the Saint Denis basilica shortly after Louis XVI’s beheading, thanks to these numerous dispatches, many authentic copies remained – and not only of Henri IV. A mole on the right nostril and a scar on the upper lip were matched between the head and many portraits, and so was a torn ear lobe (several portraits show the king wearing a single earring).

A junk dealer who had acquired the head as a curio in an auction in the 1920′s claimed he had done many years of research and was certain the head was Henri IV’s, but no one believed him. His tomb bears a photograph of himself in front of the mummified head in a glass case, and he has finally been vindicated over 30 years after his death.