Abstract harp seal? No shabby start for a painter (7)
I believe the answer is:
raphael
'painter' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'abstract harp seal? no shabby start for a' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
an anagram of 'harp' is 'raph' which is within the answer.
'a' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'el' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This explanation may well be incorrect...
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for raphael that I've seen before include "Fifteenth to sixteenth century Italian painter" , "Archangel - Italian painter d. 1520" , "Angel; Italian painter" , "Painter of the Sistine Madonna" , "Sistine Madonna artist" .)