Summary. The history of the five conceptions of
form developed along diverse lines. For an astonish-
ingly long time form A has been the basic concept
in art theory. Form B has been sporadically contrasted
with and placed above content in works of art, for
example, in the Hellenistic period, but never to such
an extent as in the twentieth century. Form C was
peculiar to art in the sixteenth and seventeenth cen-
turies. Form D was a distinctive feature of high scho-
lasticism. Form E aroused no interest until the end of
the nineteenth century.
