Each year, Greccio, Italy, reenacts a living Nativity scene paying homage to Saint Francis of Assisi, who is credited with starting the exhibition that represents the birth of Jesus.

Barlow came across a similar nativity festival hosted in the Inland Empire and decided to make it a tradition in Burbank. “It’s a wonderful way to start Christmas and the holidays,” Barlow said.

Made from six 4-by-8-foot boards of plywood backed by a 3-inch thick frame, the silhouette was undoubtedly the biggest project he’s ever undertaken, he said.

The first recorded Nativity scene — a live presentation — is said to have taken place in the year 1223 in a grotto in Greccio, a village in central Italy.