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Insula IV lies across Cardo III from Insula III as shown in the schematic. Along the lower decumanus lie several small shops, while at its junction with Cardo V there is the remains of a thermopolium that sold food and drink. Eight earthenware jars that would have contained cereals and vegetables are set in the counter.
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House of the Mosaic Atrium (Ins IV, 1-2)
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The house has one of the best very views in Herculaneum. The atrium is decorated with a beautiful black and white, geometric mosaic after which the house was named. It is considerably buckled by the onslaught of mud and ashes released by the eruption. The large oecus, or dining room, was divided into three sections by two rows of pillars. A portico, with a large garden, connects the atrium with other family rooms including the triclinium.
On the east side of the portico are four cubicula decorated with elegant frescos, and a central exedra, painted with two small mythological panels depicting the Punishment of
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Dirce, and Diana and Acteon, and with architectural motifs on a blue background.
At the end of the triclinium is a loggia off of which can be found two small belvederes. The area, overlooking the sea, is decorated with elegant frescos in the fourth style and a marble pavement in opus sectile.
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House of the Deer (Ins IV, 21)
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The house is one of the most luxurious waterfront dwellings so far discovered in Herculaneum. Built around the time of Claudius, it can be divided into two sections: the entrance, with its atrium and triclinium, and the panoramic terrace, joined together by the large portico shown opposite. The small atrium off the entrance hall lacks both the opening (compluvium) and rainwater tank (impluvium) typical of Roman atriums. At the far end of the atrium a door leads to
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the triclinium which is decorated with frescos in the third style and a patterned floor in different kinds of marble.
Two famous marble groups of deer being attacked by dogs, that were excavated in the garden, are on display. Off the garden is a room with fourth style frescos and a marble statue of a satyr with a wineskin standing in the centre.
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The garden is surrounded by a quadriporticus (a portico with four arcades) decorated with architectural motifs and more than sixty panels (partly removed in the eighteenth century) representing scenes with tiny cupids, still-lifes and architectural landscapes (these can now be seen in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale in Naples).
Another triclinium, flanked by two drawing rooms, opens onto the side of the quadriporticus overlooking the waterfront.
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