Purpose of research. The need for a thorough scientific and theoretical consideration and generalization of the formation of systematic knowledge about the national forms of our art at the leading stages of historical development, is gaining relevance in modern domestic science of art. Among other things, it requires the study of the achievements of scientists in the study of national creative heritage in the field of sculpture of Kievan Rus and the Cossack times during the formation of scientific art history. The article is devoted to the process of formation of the concept of evolution of forms of sculpture of the old princely years and the Cossack era in the works of specialists of the early twentieth century. The research methodology is based on a comprehensive historical and cultural approach, a systematic method, synchronous analysis of publications of one time period, structural analysis. This methodology allows us to consider the gradual formation of scientific views on the characteristic national differences and the direction of evolution of Ukrainian art of this period in the broader international context of artistic development. The scientific novelty of the results is to determine the process of formation of objective ideas about the formal and semantic features, distinctive features and high artistic level of monuments of Ukrainian sculpture from ancient times to the end of the Cossack era based on analysis of publications of various trends of leading experts of the late XIX – XX centuries .: D. Ainalova, E. Redina, E. Kuzmina, F. Ernst, M. Makarenko, K. Shirotsky, S. Yaremich, V. Modzalevsky, F. Schmidt, devoted to the study of this branch of ancient Ukrainian art and in the context of the characteristics of the general development of fine arts, and as an independent subject of research. Conclusions. Ukrainian science of art of the early twentieth century. has achieved undeniable success in the study of national forms of domestic sculpture of ancient Slavic times, Kievan Rus and the seventeenth – eighteenth centuries. as the period of the highest prosperity. The considered material testifies to the high professional level of formation of the substantiated scientific concept of national self-sufficiency of ancient Ukrainian sculpture as an important component of the general art process at various stages of its development.