What can studying a borrowed genre, such as the nude, outside its European boundaries teach us that we do not already know? Recognized as foundational to Western art since Ancient Greece, the nude’s role in carving out an Arab art and making modernity a cosmopolitan project has been ignored by both nationalist histories and Orientalist narratives. Scheid argues that starting with art and following it closely through its local histories and ontologies not only adds to our appreciation of art but promises to help us decolonize ourselves.