after an illness of several weeks, dufay died on november 27, 1474. he had asked for his motet "ave regina celorum" to be sung for him as he died, with pleas for mercy to be read between some of the movements, but there was not enough time for this to be arranged, so it was sung at his funeral instead. dufay was buried in the chapel of st. etienne in the cathedral of cambrai; his portrait was carved onto his tombstone. in later years the cathedral was destroyed, and the tombstone was lost, but it was found in 1859 (it was being used to cover a well), and is now in the palais des beaux arts museum in lille.