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Good morning. I’ve always rather admired the paintings of Marc Chagall. But until the other day I knew nothing about the Chagall Committee in Paris which has decided a painting purchased for £100,000 in 1992 is a fake. They want to destroy it. That hasn’t pleased its Yorkshire owner. This news followed the Victoria & Albert Museum releasing documents last week listing what the Nazi regime in Germany did to what it called “degenerate art”. Around 16,000 artworks were removed from German museums and galleries. Some were sold. Others were destroyed. Chagall was among the painters whose modernism was thought to be dangerous. Hitler, an amateur artist of sorts, said that anyone who painted the sky green and the grass blue deserved to be sterilised. The questioning and exploratory spirit of the best art is threatening to totalitarian regimes. Occasionally I get letters complaining about one of the greatest artistic treasures in Norwich Cathedral. It’s a vivid oil painting by an unknown artist dating from the late 14th century. It’s named after my predecessor as Bishop of Norwich at the time, Henry Despenser. He was instrumental in putting down the Peasants’ Revolt in 1381. He commissioned this painting in thanksgiving for the restoration of good order. We’re open about its origins but some visitors find the painting’s provenance seriously disturbs them. It’s as if the art itself is degenerate, sullied by the violence of the man who commissioned it. The painting has five panels. Jesus is shown being flogged, then carrying his cross and crucified. Two more panels depict his resurrection and ascension into heaven. The painting sits behind an altar. It is surrounded by the coats of arms of powerful Norfolk families. Originally it would have been intended to show how the power of Christ had transferred to his Church and to those in authority. “Be obedient” was the message. Today people interpret the painting entirely differently. Jesus appears to us as the victim of the powers of his day. He is crucified for speaking the truth. His resurrection is God’s vindication, a sign that God, who blesses the poor, was on the side of the peasants more than the powerful. I doubt Bishop Despenser would have envisaged anyone could have seen the painting this way. The message of great art can never be controlled by those who commission it. It can’t even be possessed or owned by the artist. A work of art takes on a life of its own. It reflects something of the character of all creative activity. On one level, the Nazis had a point. Art can be dangerous to those who want to be in power and control.