The ages of noted artists? (4)
I believe the answer is:
eras
'the ages' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)
'noted artists?' is the wordplay.
'noted' becomes 'e' (I can't justify this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'artists?' becomes 'ras' (Royal Academicians abbreviation).
'e'+'ras'='ERAS'
'of' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for eras that I've seen before include "Periods of time" , "typeface" , "Periods, ages" , "At least two times" , "Long and distinct periods of history" .)