Sirio Tonelli

1922 - 2019

June 3, 2019 Sirio Tonelli, internationally renowned artist, master Byzantine iconographer, and President of Tonelli Fine Art Studios, passed away on June 3, 2019. He was born in Sarzana, Italy in 1922 and arrived in the US in 1948 on a scholarship to the Art Institute of Chicago following WWII. He soon moved to Omaha, NE and began producing original artwork for Catholic Churches. His oil painting of Christ, featured on the front page of the Omaha World Herald on Christmas Day 1953, helped launch his career. In 1954 he founded Tonelli Studios and established a studio in Pietrasanta, Italy, where his work continues under the direction of his son, John Tonelli. In the late 1950s he was awarded the Maltese Cross by the Vatican for his extraordinary artistic contributions to the church. In the early 1960s he relocated to Chicago and his focus switched to the Byzantine style, with an emphasis on mosaic artwork for the Eastern Orthodox Church. He converted to Orthodoxy in the early 1970s and was awarded the honorary title of Archon of the Greek Orthodox Church. His mosaics, frescos, stained glass windows, and designs in marble, bronze and wood grace the interiors of over 100 churches around the US. He is well-known for his portraits of many Popes, Patriarchs, Archbishops and Priests. In the 1990s he was commissioned to design the Congressional Medal of Honor and was awarded an honorary doctorate degree by Georgia State University. Outside of art, Sirio Tonelli's passions included flying, opera and soccer. He was an accomplished pilot for over 50 years. He was a patron and one of the founding members of the Chicago Lyric Opera. Sirio was recognized by the US Soccer Federation for his extraordinary contribution to professional soccer in North America. He was an advisor to the US Soccer Federation, Vice President of the Toronto Blizzards, and he helped organize several major international matches, including the US National Team's participation in the World Cup in Italy in 1990. Sirio is survived by his son, John Tonelli, daughter-in-law Isabel, and grand daughters Sofia, Alexia, and Olivia. There will be a wake from 6:00pm-7:30pm, followed by a memorial service at the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral of New York City on Tuesday, June 11. The funeral will be at 11 AM on June 14 at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles, where he will be laid to rest in a crypt in the cathedral. Both cathedrals are graced with beautiful works by Sirio Tonelli.