The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 3 plus 6 letter word OLD MASTER
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
O
L
D
M
A
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More clues leading to the result OLD MASTER
- Great painter soon to leave school?
- Art seldom seen as new?
- Art seldom ruined by him?
- Work of art lost, dream shattered
- Painting woman’s framed
- Painting geriatric Pole’s given to the Queen
- Splash of red, almost a work of art
- Mature mother holding son in work of art
- Star model modelled for painter
- Mature mother cradling son in Michelangelo‘s work?
Buddy explains!
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.