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ducati is an enthusiast type sport bike, may not be so good as a first bike due to maintenance issues and exotic mechanicals. (mostly valve train issues).
true the italian bikes are very pretty---that is their main virtue.
the suzuki or honda 45 degree twin cylinder variants are much better and more reliable bikes, and much easier to maintain.
most of ducati's appeal is for folks who require the ego boost of riding an "exotic" italian bike---truth is the jap bikes of same displacement smoke them in most every performance category until you get to superbike class, and only then is the ducati mildly competitive, but that is a $40K ducati unavailable to the consumer biker. currently the suzuki is consistantly the top superbike with re: to high performance and occasionally honda, and those are mostly stock bikes.
if you want a beginning sport bike i would suggest some sort of 600-750cc jap sport bike as others here have suggested. more reliable, better performance, same chick magnet potential.
you must wear protection no matter what the outside temps are---helmet at all times, if it is too hot to wear leather you should have a padded fabric jacket designed for motorcycling. (waxed cotton belstaff, etc). proper gloves, newest helmets have adjustable ventilation systems---you can ride faster wearing a helmet, and riding a sportbike sans helmet brands you immediately as a novice. and a june bug hit directly in the eye at just 60mph can lose your eye permanently. you should have proper boots also for sportbike riding---these come up on the calf, have ankle and arch protection and typically toe and arch support to hold the foot on the peg and protect the top of foot during upshifting. (figure minimum $1000~usd for proper sportbike riding gear).
you WILL fall off if you are a beginning sportbike rider. i bought my first motorcycle from a guy who was in a wheelchair after breaking his back his first week on a sport bike. he was showing his buddies his new "skill" at doing a wheelie. he spent his insurance money building a ramp so he could get into his house. his first motorcycle. he told me he would never walk again and gave me a good deal on his bike. sportbikes are not too forgiving of incompetence---buying a sportbike does accelerate the natural selection process, as it allows the less intelligent members of the specie to incapacitate themselves during their prime reproductive years. only the smart survive.
you need to minimize the damage of your first fall, which statistically will usually result from loss of traction on wet oil right after a rain, or losing the rear end in a patch of gravel while you are hotdogging your "sport" bike or trying to keep up with your buddies in the curves---sportbikes just beg "pushing the envelope" and you will "push the envelope". how you are dressed will determine the outcome.
your personal safety should be your number one concern, not what type of sportbike.
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