A special postal stamp will be issued on March 7 to commemorate Italian film legend Anna Magnani.
The date of the stamp's issue marks the 100th anniversary of the Roman actress' birth.
The Italian Postal Service defined Magnani as ''an icon of international cinema''.
Magnani, who died in September 1973, was the first Italian to win an Oscar, the best actress award for her role in the 1955 film The Rose Tattoo.
The role was especially written for her by American playwright Tennessee Williams, who after meeting her is reported to have said: ''I never saw a more beautiful woman, enormous eyes, skin the color of Devonshire cream''.
Magnani began her career in Italian vaudeville but gained international recognition for her performance in Roberto Rossellini's neorealistic classic Rome, Open City.
While specialising in comedy on the stage, the role allowed her to demonstrate her remarkable dramatic talent.
After from Rossellini, Magnani worked with most of Italy's leading directors of the period including Federico Fellini, Pier Paolo Pasolini and Luchino Visconti.
Outside Italy she lent her talents to such directors as Stanley Kramer, Sidney Lumet and Jean Renoir.
Magnani was also nominated for an Oscar for the 1957 film Wild is the Wind, by George Cukor, a role which won her a Silver Bear at the Berlin film Festival.
She was named best actress at the Venice Film Festival in 1947 for her performance in Luigi Zampa's Onorevole Angelina.
Magnani has a star on Hollywood's Walk of Fame.
