The Royal Portrait of Kate Middleton is Rotten! said Robin Simon

First official portrait of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, unveiled last Friday at the National Portrait Gallery in London

The first official portrait of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge and wife of Prince William, was unveiled Friday at the National Portrait Gallery in London. What we can say that, for the moment, the work is far from unanimous. The large painting is an oil on canvas by Paul Emsley, which has already drawn the portrait of the former South African president Nelson Mandela and is based on photos taken at two sittings in May and June , 2012.

Wearing a beautiful red dress Whistles, Duchess of Cambridge, who kept her hands clasped in front of her stomach to hide any trace of her pregnancy, as her husband would be " very happy with the result, " according to Reuters.

This is apparently not the case with art critics and British newspapers. Many accuse the painter to have her old subject, which is 31 years old and have disfigured the one who became one of the most photographed women in the world since her marriage to Prince William. Others blame the portrait of a young woman having presented a smile more than a fugitive. How "a beautiful young woman smiling contagious," she could become "unpleasant object out of Twilight ", asks Charlotte Higgins, the art critic of the Guardian . The "dead eyes", the "heavy eyelids" and then the "mouth slightly wrinkled," disturbing criticism.

Kate Middleton Portrait: It’s A Rotten Picture!

The smile of Kate Middleton is puzzling indeed. It takes more than "the grimace that the true smile," says the Daily Mail . "It's a rotten picture," says Robin Simon, editor of the British Art Journal , "Fortunately, the Duchess of Cambridge looks nothing like that in real life to." The art critic for the Sunday Times , Waldemar Januszczak, this portrait is "unremarkable (...) The author has portrayed older than she is, her eyes do not glow that 'they in reality so that one side of her face and austere."

To defend themselves, the painter told the press that "The Duchess told me she wanted to be represented in natural - her natural self in opposition to the official me." While Paul Emsley became known in realizing the portrait of former South African President Nelson Mandela and he explained that "With a face older, wrinkled, it is easy to create the likeness. However, it is difficult to convey the character of a beautiful face. “Certainly, but that is where the mission of a court portraitist.