There is a lot of controversy over the renaissance, when it began, and if it actually existed. why do you think there is so much uncertainty and controversy?

It’s pretty hard to determinate when an artistic movement begins or ends. The first movements that had a proper starting date were the avant-guard ones, which considered their manifesto publication as their release.  

In classic movements, the precision of the start date is even harder. When we consider that Renaissance was a movement or a style because it influenced all artistic spheres (painting, sculpture, architecture, and crafts), we have to reckon that it could only be applied to the artistic production in Italy, precisely in Florence.

Many critics consider that any other artwork produced outside the ideological center of the Renaissance is part of what was classified as Mannerism, as artists out of Florence were in touch with the results of the experiences that culminated in that esthetic. They haven’t participated actively in the encounters and tutories.  

As Renaissance has a scientific aspect of studies and experimentation, its origins are even controversy. Sienese and Florentina artists were creating using different abroad influences. In fact, they were discussing solutions to the Byzantine Style, that was influencing Italy until the fall of Constantinople. In Florence, Giotto was responsible to give new paterns to the art produced in Florence in the Trecento, the period between the 1300s and 1400s. Consequently, there was an interchange between both cities, but it’s not unanimous that it was the beginning of the Renaissance.  

Other critics consider that the beginning of the of that style was the conclusion by the Florence Cathedral and its Dome by Brunelleschi, in 1434. Although its name only appeared in 1550 in Vasari’s book Life of Artists.

What we have to keep in mind is that it’s difficult to periodize art movements, but we can consider that the Renaissance was the art style produced in Florence, between the 14th and 16th century.