Artist very good company, embracing fool (7)
I believe the answer is:
picasso
'artist' is the definition.
(Picasso is an example)
'very good company embracing fool' is the wordplay.
'very good' becomes 'pi' (old-fashioned term for 'pious').
'company' becomes 'co' (abbreviation).
'embracing' indicates putting letters inside.
'fool' becomes 'ass' (both can mean a stupid person).
'co' enclosing 'ass' is 'casso'.
'pi'+'casso'='PICASSO'
(Other definitions for picasso that I've seen before include "As cop is a Spanish painter" , "Cubist artist" , "Pablo ,,,,,,,, great late Spanish artist" , "Pablo . . . . . . ., extraordinary 20th century artist" , "Spanish painter and sculptor" .)