Image Details

From V. Dragut and P. Lupan, Moldavian Murals: From the 15th to the 16th Century

Adam signs a contract with Satan in this mural from the 16th-century church at Voronetþ in Moldavia, Romania. Several stories about Adam and Eve that were popular in Eastern Europe, the Balkans and Armenia tell how Satan tricked Adam into signing a contract—called a cheirograph (Greek for “handwritten document”)—making Adam Satan’s servant for all eternity. In one version of the story, Satan persuades Adam that the earth is his (the devil’s) possession and forbids Adam to till it until he signs a contract making him Satan’s tenant farmer. In another version, the devil pretends he controls the rising and setting of the sun. He convinces naïve Adam to sign himself and his family over to Satan, in return for some daylight.

On the contract in this mural, Adam is writing “Cheirograph of Adam” in Slavonic characters.