Rousseau's art draws crowds a century after his death

He was once regarded as a bit of a joke. A self-taught "Sunday painter" who couldn't do hands and who was laughed at by other artists for his amateurish technique.

But a century after he died penniless in Paris, the public has taken Henri Rousseau to their hearts.

An exhibition of his greatest work has become one of the biggest hits of the decade at the Musee d'Orsay in spite of a sharp dip in tourist numbers in the French capital.