Callas memorabilia raises €2111 large collection of Maria Callas's personal effects was put under the hammer in December at Sotheby's in Milan, raising an estimated €2m. The items had been the property of Callas's late husband Giovanni Battista Meneghini and had lain largely untouched after his death in 1981.

Among the items were 63 love letters written by Callas to Meneghini. Her first champion, he became her manager and was credited with transforming her from a gauche young woman into an international star. But Callas abandoned him in 1959 after meeting the Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis. Meneghini, 28 years Callas's senior, never came to terms with the loss of his wife. Following her death in 1977 he bought back many of her personal belongings at an auction in Paris the following year. The soprano had left no will.

Bidding was swift as the 317 lots went under the hammer. As well as letters the collection contained photographs, musical scores, recordings, paintings, jewellery and clothes.

The highest price of €170,000 was paid for a painting of the Madonna and Child on a throne, attributed to the 13th114thcentury Tuscan painter Coppo di Marcovaldo. Of the more personal items the jewellery attracted most interest, one tiny Cartier brooch selling for €62,000, while Callas's Paillard metronome, which sat on her piano in her houses in Verona, Milan and Paris, went for €14,500.

The love letters were snapped up for €27,000, barely half their estimated sale value. Poignantly, the smallest items in the sale were Callas's and Meneghini's matching wedding rings engraved on the inside with their names, which sold for €25,000. Even official documents relating to the couple's separation had been treasured by Meneghini and raised E1000.

Sotheby's expressed delight at the event, claiming a near 100 per cent sale.