Italians were riveted Thursday by the mysterious waxing and waning of Silvio Berlusconi's hairline amid rumors that Italy's prime minister uses a dark spray to fill in the gaps.
In a country where striking "una bella figura", or making a good impression, is paramount, there was fevered speculation about the dramatic changes to the billionaire businessman's hairline.
Newspapers ran photographs of the prime minister apparently sporting a full head of hair on Saturday, when he attended the wedding of a glamorous female Cabinet colleague, against pictures two days later in which his hair seemed to have receded several inches.
"Berlusconi's hair – gone in 48 hours" was the headline in a glossy weekly magazine, Novella 2000, while La Repubblica announced a "new mystery" over the state of the premier's crown.
The answer to the puzzle was connected to Mr Berlusconi's visit to a hospital in Milan on Monday.
He was summoned by doctors who wanted to scrutinise any scars remaining from an attack in December when a man with a history of mental illness shoved a souvenir of Milan's cathedral into his face, leaving him with a fractured nose, two broken teeth and cuts to his face.
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