Serene bride so perfectly portrayed in the mirror (7)
I believe the answer is:
reposed
'serene' is the definition.
The answer and definition are not the same part of speech. However, adjectives and past participle verbs can sometimes define each other.
'bride so perfectly portrayed in the mirror' is the wordplay.
'in' indicates a hidden word.
'the mirror' says the letters should be written backwards (I've seen 'mirrored' mean this).
'desoper' is hidden in the letters of 'bride so perfectly portrayed'.
'desoper' back-to-front is 'REPOSED'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for reposed that I've seen before include "Relaxed" , "Rested" , "What's settled" , "modelled afresh" .)