Bathed in the clear Roman sunshine, this elevated chrome-era view of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore presents one of Christendom's four great patriarchal basilicas in commanding detail — the 18th-century Ferdinando Fuga façade gleaming white against a vivid blue sky, the soaring Romanesque campanile (the tallest in Rome at 75 meters) rising behind, and the ancient Column of Peace topped by its gilded Madonna standing sentinel at right. The piazza below is packed with the compact Fiats and Alfa Romeos of the era, a perfect time-capsule of mid-century Roman street life. Jane — signing warmly as "Grandma" — writes to Jimmie in Elgin, Illinois, that she is leaving Rome the next day, that the weather has been rainy and cold, and that she has "seen a lot of things" she promises to describe in person. The card carries a striking Vatican City stamp rather than an Italian one, the 1975 Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana 500th-anniversary issue at L.250 — an unusually philatelically interesting choice for a card apparently posted from Rome proper, suggesting Jane may have purchased the stamp at a Vatican post office window during her visit.