Image courtesy ofThe History Blog .
The dried , hollowed out squash is ornately decorate , emblazoned with the portrait of French revolutionary heroes and intriguing passages of text : “ On January 21 , Maximilien Bourdaloue dipped his hanky in the parentage of Louis XVI after his decapitation . Once congealed , he put it in this gourd vine and have it to me for two banknotes of ten Francs . T. Pes c.f . L.er . F. Aegnauld . ” The squash rackets held no hanky . But there was dry out blood inside .
The claim on theCuburbita moschatasquash , which was buy by an Italian family more than a one C ago , is hold by history : The Gallic people did dip their hanky in the former baron ’s blood after he was decapitate to keep as macabre souveniers . But did the blood inside the squash actually come from Louis XVI ?
Two twelvemonth ago , desoxyribonucleic acid psychoanalysis do on the two - century - old residue revealed that it was , in fact , blood line , and that it likely belong to someonematching Louis ’ description . But a conclusive authentication was n’t possible , because there was no other royal DNA to compare the sampling with . After Louis ' execution of instrument , Gallic revolutionaries had desecrated the royal tomb at the Basilica of Saint - Denis , off the royal ’ remains , decapitate them , and dumping the bodies in volume Robert Ranke Graves .
Then , in 2010 , a mummified brain belong to Louis ’ 16th C precursor , Henri IV — who was assassinated in 1610 — was name . The gruesome relic was rescued from the topsy-turvydom of the desecration of the purple grave and had changed hands through auction several times over two centuries ; scientists key it based on carbon 14 geological dating , 3D scanning , cristal - rays and portraits of the king paint at the clock time . According tothe History Blog , the scientists sent a fiberscope through Henri ’s trachea to gather a tissue paper sample from inside the mummified head . What they establish confirmed that the blood traces inside the squash rackets did belong to to Louis XVI :
That rare genetic signature links the two hands , who were class by seven generations . fit in to forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier , " This field of study shows that [ the remains ] partake in a genetic heritage go across on through the parental line . They have a verbatim liaison to one another through their beginner . One could say that there is absolutely no doubtfulness any more . ”
