An English painter recalled scene (5)
I believe the answer is:
arena
'scene' is the definition.
(I've seen this in another clue)
'an english painter recalled' is the wordplay.
'english' becomes 'E' (abbreviation as in OED).
'painter' becomes 'RA' (member of the Royal Academy of Arts).
'recalled' says the letters should be written backwards (to recall can mean to bring something back).
'an'+'e'+'ra'='anera'
'anera' written backwards gives 'ARENA'.
(Other definitions for arena that I've seen before include "Sporting venue enclosed by seats" , "Field of conflict" , "Area in centre of sports stadium" , "Playing area" , "Place of activity, especially conflict" .)