The European flag has disappeared from the office of the Italian prime minister. At first it was a gentle rearrangement, then it escalated into a total cleansing.

The latest photograph of Matteo Renzi shows him sitting in front of six Italian flags, the Tricolore in full glory, as if he were Gabriele D'Annunzio preparing to lead his patriots into Fiume.

This has the unmistakable touch of Jim Messina, the Obama strategist brought over to Rome for a fee of €400,000 to help Mr Renzi survive next month’s make-or-break referendum. The last 32 polls all point to defeat.

Snake-bitten bankers in the City are bracing for trouble, fearing a third earthquake for the old order in a G7 democracy. Some see it as the logical sequel to Brexit and Trump, this time shaking a structural pillar of the eurozone, precursor to a revolutionary upset by France’s Marine Le Pen next May.

They are muddled. There is no such chain-reaction or contagion. The alleged linkage between Brexit and Trump is greatly overplayed. The former is a free trade movement, resiling from a parochial Europe; Trump is a protectionist.

Nor is Italy's referendum as binary as suggested. What is true is that the anti-euro Five Star movement of comedian Beppe Grillo is running at 29pc in the polls. It already controls the City of Rome and is edging closer to national power. Mr Renzi’s glory days as the wunderkind of Italian politics are long past.