In 1821 Leopoldo Cicognara published a bibliography that still stands as a milestone in the history of art librarianship: it records a key collection assembled shortly before the establishment of art history as an academic discipline. Conceptualized as a database, his Catalago ragionato provides a basis for digital visualizations that offer fresh insights, because they render an array of bibliographical attributes and themes easy to assess and explore. Preliminary results indicate that such explorations could challenge initial expectations and inform our understanding of the inception of art history as a discipline.