Historic Impressionist version of exile in Italy? (3,9)
I believe the answer is:
old pretender
'version of exile in italy?' is the definition.
The definition suggests a singular noun which matches the answer.
'historic impressionist' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'historic' could be 'old' (historic can mean very old) and 'old' is found in the answer.
The remaining letters 'pretender' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for old pretender that I've seen before include "unsuccessful claimant" , "Son of James II as claimant to the throne" , "James Edward Stuart" .)