The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 letter word RAPHAEL
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
R
A
P
H
A
E
L
More clues leading to the result RAPHAEL
- Archangel manipulated a harp with panache, sending out a note
- Royal Academy help a struggling artist who influenced 11
- Painter gets help with a ground, this one?
- Artist, tragic character standing around a pub
- Artist needing help, a struggling Italian painter
- Artist hit poor Leah
- Hear pal has become a painter
- Artist getting help, a struggling Italian painter
- Archangel playing a harp well, having lost wings!
- Painter needs to chat girl up
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "painter" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case painter = raphael.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.