Gallery of 15 oval portraits of the founders and first presidents of the Institute of International Law.

Watercolour, pencil, 86,5 x 62 cm, cardboard.

The Institute was founded in 1873 in Ghent by Gustave Moynier and Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns and is devoted to the study and development of international law. Portrayed presidents (with the date of their presidency): Ludwig von Bar (1891-1892), Mountague Bernard (1880-1882), Jean-Gaspard Bluntschli (1875-1877), Emilio Brusa (1896-1897), Auguste de Bulmerincq (1887-1888), Joachim de Holtzendorff (1883-1885), James Lorimer (only member), Pasquale Stanislao Mancini (1873-1875), Gustave Moynier (1892-1894), Félix Esquirou de Parieu (1877-1878), Auguste Pierantoni (1882-1883), Louis Renault (1894-1895), Gustave Rolin-Jaequemyns (1878-1879/1885-1887), Alphonse Rivier (1888-1889), John Westlake (1895-1896). Among the organization’s achievements were its contributions to the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, the first formal statements of the laws of war and war crimes.