Renaissance painter is cheeky in speech (5)
I believe the answer is:
lippi
'renaissance painter' is the definition.
(15th-century Italian painter)
'cheeky in speech' is the wordplay.
'cheeky' becomes 'lippy' (I've seen this before).
'in speech' indicates a 'sounds like' (homophone) clue.
'lippy' is a homophone of 'LIPPI'.
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for lippi that I've seen before include "Artist" , "painter" , "Italian picture-maker" .)