The monastery was built to fulfill a promise to Stephen's spiritual father and advisor St. [[Daniel the Hermit]], who had lived in a cell in the area, after a victory in battle over the Ottoman Turks. Upon his death, St. Daniel was buried in the monastery church with the exception of his right index finger which was encased in silver and sent to [[Putna Monastery (Bucovina, Romania)|Putna Monastery]].

The frescoes were painted during the reign of one of Stephen's successors, Petru Rareş, between 1534 and 1535 at the request of the Metropolitan of Moldova, Grigore Roşca. The names of the artists are unknown except for one master painter, Marcu, but the term ''Voronet Blue'', a pigment created using ''lapis lazuli'' , has entered the artistic lexicon alongside ''Titian Red''. Probably the most accomplished painting at Voroneţ and indeed in all of Moldova is that of the ''Last Judgement'' on one end wall of the monastery church. Another famous painting is that of ''Jesse's Tree'', showing the genealogy of [[Jesus Christ]]. Due to the high quality of the frescoes at Voroneţ, the church, dedicated to the Great [[Martyr]] St. [[Georgethe Trophy-bearer]] has become known as the ''Sistine Chapel of the East''.