Armenian church sues Getty museum over return of pages ripped from sacred Bible dating to 1256

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This undated image provided by the J. Paul Getty Museum shows a detail from the Armenian Bible, illustrated by T'oros Roslin, dating to 1256, and was acquired by the Los Angeles-based museum from a private collector in 1994. Attorneys for the Armenian church have filed a lawsuit against the J. Paul Getty Museum, demanding the return of seven pages ripped from the Armenian Bible, according to a report Thursday June 3, 2010.(AP Photo/J. Paul Getty Museum)
(AP)
Armenian Church Sues Getty Museum Over Bible Pages
Armenian church sues Getty museum over return of pages ripped from sacred Bible dating to 1256
By SUE MANNING
The Associated Press
LOS ANGELES
The Armenian church has sued the J. Paul Getty Museum to demand the return of seven pages ripped from a sacred Armenian Bible dating back to 1256. The Western Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Los Angeles. The lawsuit alleged the church had the Bible authenticated in 1947 or 1948 and it was returned with the pages missing.
It states the identity of the thief was never determined.
A spokeswoman for the Getty said the museum legally acquired the pages, which is known as the Canon Tables, in 1994 from an anonymous private collector "after a thorough review of their provenance."
"A notable Armenian scholar who also was the primate of the Armenian Church of America acknowledged key details about the Canon Tables' provenance in a 1943 article, including the fact that they were owned by an Armenian family in the United States," spokeswoman Julie Jaskol said.
The seven illustrated pages by T'oros Roslin were once part of the handwritten Armenian Bible known as the "Zeyt'un Gospels." The rest of the sacred book is located at the Mesrob Mashotots Madenataran museum in Yerevan, Armenia.
The church's lawsuit contends the missing pages became part of a private collection of a family in Watertown, Mass. They were loaned to the Pierpont Morgan Library, now known as the Morgan Library and Museum, in New York in 1994 for an exhibition.
Michael Bazyler, a Chapman University law professor and member of the plaintiff's legal team, said Thursday that attorneys hope the pages can be returned during negotiation rather than litigation.
"We contend these seven pages are stolen property, and they can never get title," Bazyler said. "We are asking for the return of the seven pages back to the church."
Jaskol, the Getty spokeswoman, said the ownership of the pages has never been questioned until now, and that "the Getty believes the lawsuit is groundless and should be dismissed."
Bazyler believes this is the first case filed in the United States for the return of cultural or religious objects taken around the time of World War I, when historians estimate that up to 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turks.
The event is widely viewed by scholars as the first genocide of the 20th century. Turkey denies that the deaths constituted genocide, saying the toll has been inflated and those killed were victims of civil war and unrest.
"It's a matter of historical identity and preservation of the Armenian culture," said Western Prelacy board member Levon Kirakosian. "It's important everyone realizes that."
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Annette Melikian