The staircase was made for the Jubilee Year of the Holy Year 1725 (a year of special grace in the Christian tradition, commemorating man's descent from God).

It was commissioned by Cardinal Pierre Guerin de Tencin, Minister of France to the Holy See, during the pontificate of Pope Innocent XIII, who issued a bull declaring 1725 a Holy Year. This bull was promulgated in 1724, after his death, and the Jubilee was celebrated under the pontificate of Benedict XIII.