Literary notes about Atrium (AI summary)
The word “atrium” in literature is richly versatile, evoking both tangible architectural spaces and subtle emotional landscapes. In many texts it describes the central room of a Roman house—a hub that connects living quarters, reception areas, and intimate personal spaces, as when a master of the house moves from the vestibule to the library [1] or when the domus is transformed by its single large atrium [2]. Authors also use the atrium to set the tone of a scene, whether it is depicted as a quiet, solitary courtyard that mirrors a character's inner solitude [3] or as a ceremonial space adorned with ancestral trophies that hints at a noble legacy [4]. Detailed architectural descriptions further emphasize its significance, noting precise proportions and ornamental details that underscore its role as both a formative element of Roman design and a metaphor for the inner structure of a home or mind [5, 6, 7, 8].
- The master of the house passed through the splendid vestibule and atrium into the library.
— from A Struggle for Rome, v. 3 by Felix Dahn - The simple Roman house with its one large atrium , serving at once as kitchen, living room, and bed chamber, was completely transformed.
— from A History of Rome to 565 A. D. by Arthur E. R. (Arthur Edward Romilly) Boak - Pushing in, they crossed into the atrium, and found it sleepy as solitude.
— from Uther and Igraine by Warwick Deeping - In a hall (atrium), decorated with the trophies of his ancestors, Cecilio awaits in the twilight the coming of Junia.
— from Life of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3) by Otto Jahn - From Mau the house of the surgeon, pompeii Illustrating The Tuscan Atrium 1. Fauces 9, 10.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - 2 In the stately palaces of Rome, the pinatheca usually communicated with the atrium.
— from The Southern Literary Messenger, Vol. I., No. 5, January, 1835 by Various - The alae, to the right and left, should have a width equal to one third of the length of the atrium, when that is from thirty to forty feet long.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio - The walls of the atrium are painted red, with vertical black zones like pilasters, or antæ , besides lines and ornaments of various colors.
— from Museum of Antiquity: A Description of Ancient Life by T. L. (Thomas Louis) Haines
