Santa proves he really IS a timeless classic: Father Christmas makes stunning interventions in famous paintings throughout the ages It's a quirk of the modern world that may have some of the artists turning in their grave. But one photographer has been giving their materpieces a distinctly festive feel with a touch of digital trickery. Ed Wheeler has spent the last few years taking self-portraits while dressed as Santa Claus - and inserting them into famous paintings. Festive fun: Photographer Ed Wheeler has inserted pictures of himself dressed as Santa into famous paintings including Botticelli's The Birth Of Venus (above) 'Homage to the original': Father Christmas lounges around in the jungle in this adapted version of Rousseau's The Dream Timeless: Santa takes centre stage together with some Christmas lights in Claude Monet's 1899 classic the Japanese Footbridge Does it really need any more surrealism? Father Christmas joins in with a game of poker with the dogs in Coolidge's A Friend In Need The Philadelphia-based artist has a collection of dozens of such adaptations with Father Christmas carefully placed on canvases by Botticelli, Monet, Coolidge and Caravaggio among others. An introduction on the website Santa Classics, which promotes his collection, says: 'Often Santa replaces a main figure in a painting, sometimes he is added to a group composition or may even be the single human presence in a landscape. The Christmas connection: Santa strikes the same pose held by Jesus in Caravaggio's 1601 masterpiece The Supper At Emmaus Helping hands: Santa assists one of the ladies with her towel in Pierre-Auguste Renoir's 1887 painting The Large Bathers That's one hell of a photobomb: Santa drops into 1434 painting by Jan van Eyck (left) and the late 19th century work called Pygmalion and Galatea by Jean-Léon Gérôme 'Wheeler's intent is to pay homage to the original paintings while offering art lovers an additional reason to smile.' The Santa Classics will be exhibited at bahdeebahdu in Philadelphia until December 21. Heroic: Santa turns saviour in Watson And The Shark, a 1778 oil painting by John Singleton Copley, depicting the rescue of a boy from a shark attack in Havana, Cuba Santa to the rescue! Father takes time out from delivering presents to become the hero in Winslow Homer's 1884 painting The Life Line Dancing a jig: Santa gets into the swing in Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec's At The Moulin Rouge: The Dance from 1890