After passing into the house from the street through the fauces, a visitor to a Roman house entered the atrium. As a circulation space, the atrium tended to receive less complex decoration than dining rooms or cubicula. Small figures and still lifes are far more common than mythological central panels, and the third and fourth style schemes tend to be rather simple and flat. The atrium had a sloped roof to collect rain water, which fell through the compluvium (the square opening in the roof) into the basin in the floor (the impluvium). A black/white mosaic style has been chosen for the atrium, again because this is a circulation space--visitors typically would not have enough time in this area of the house to appreciate complex mosaics and mythological cycles. The monochrome mosaic style used here is consequently less ornate in comparison to the mosaic pattern chosen for the peristyle.
This room was designed and decorated by David Fredrick
atrium view #1
