VENICE, Italy (CBS Newspath) – Venice has been surprising people for hundreds of years. And with a natural setting as its lagoon, even a floating nativity scene has become an open-air artwork.

With baby Jesus emerging from the waters, surrounded by a floating Joseph and Mary under the sunset near the island of Burano, the floating nativity scene brings the magic of Christmas in the lagoon of Venice.

Thanks to the changes of sunlight throughout the day and with the water enhancing the colours of the silhouettes, the scene offers an atmosphere of pure magic throughout the day,

The artwork, created by Francesco Orazio, a greengrocer with an artistic bent, was completed on Saturday (December 4) in an open stretch of water, without hindering navigation.

The painted plywood nativity figures were fixed by wooden stakes and then anchored on the bottom of the lagoon. And, for a couple of hours a day, the feet of the statues are exactly level with the water.